Breaking Me Up Deep Inside
by Kurai Minoru
Summary: Ryoma is now an elite underground assassin. Paired up with a deadly team, they make the headlines of newspapers every time they make a kill. How did Ryoma end up like this though, from the sweet, innocent boy he used to be? OT5. Other character deaths.
1. The LYNX Assassin

The LYNX Assassin

**AN:** Sorry that this took so long to come out! Sorry sorry sorry! -bows head in apology to AtobeLover- I had writer's block! But that's no excuse. Here's the first chapter!

I need to come up with a better title for this story……any suggestions?

Ugh, sorry if any of the characters are OOC; its hard to keep them in character half the time. Plus, sorry if I made Fuji, Atobe, Tezuka, and Sanada seem so mean in the flashback. I swear they become nicer towards the end of the story

*This*- indicates location and time.

_This_ indicates flashbacks and thoughts.

"_This"_ indicates speaking over a phone, walkie-talkie, etc.

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Prince of Tennis, although I am one of the many who wish they do. (Inner voice: Keep on dreaming.) Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? [snorfles]

Story Begin!

* * *

*New York City 1:13 AM Skyscraper Office*

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! HELP ME!!!"

The piercing scream filled the air. The victim turned around and fell down at sight of the dark figure that appeared behind him.

"Aw, the game has ended. So boring, giving up so soon?"

The figure grinned a maniacal grin. The victim could only whimper in fear and beg for mercy. His captor soon turned cold.

"So pathetic, humans that is…be glad I'm doing you a favor and ending your worthless life here."

With that he stabbed downward, silencing the unfortunate soul for the last time. They fell silent, their body cold and lifeless on the ground.

"How easily can life be drained away from their earth-bound containers…" he mused as he licked his knife clean. "But, I have found my wings…" A blood-chilling laugh filled the air as he leapt from the window, leaving behind the remains of his masterpiece.

~The Next Day~

"The LYNX strikes again!"

"Who Is This Mysterious LYNX?"

"Politician Found Dead in Office, Only Note Left By LYNX!"

It was everywhere; the headlines of multiple newspapers, every news channel on TV, on radio talk shows, anywhere you could imagine. One unconcerned person sat down in his glistening white kitchen with his morning cup of coffee and the daily newspaper. Ryoma looked up bored. "Ah, they still haven't found me yet. Cops these days are so underrated."

A person stumbled into the kitchen, cursing sleepily when they tripped over the crack in the tiles.

"Oh, Ryoma, you're up already."

Tousled blond hair layered above sleep ridden blue eyes. Kevin yawned, while pouring himself a bowl of cereal. "The LYNX crap again? One would almost think you were looking for the attention, Ryoma."

Kevin was one of the only people who knew his secret identity. They sat in silence for awhile, quietly finishing their respective breakfasts. A background noise of trickling water stopped. Soon, to their expectations, a young woman stepped into the room, bare footed with only a towel wrapped around her lithe body, the water droplets running down in little streams to the floor.

"Are, you two are already up? That's weird, normally, I'm first up and about."

"No one could be later than you, Kurai, because you take super long showers," retorted both Ryoma and Kevin. She ignored their words and raised an eloquent eyebrow at the newspapers littering the little round table.

"Wow, attention hungry much Ryoma?" She dodged the knife thrown her way, which imbedded itself into the wall adjourning the kitchen to the living room. After all, she was the one who taught Ryoma in the way of the assassin and Kevin in the way of the swindler. "Tsk, tsk, naughty naughty little boy," she teased him.

Kevin intervened between the two, fearing for his life. "Guys, lets not blow up the house like last time, ok?"

They abruptly turned their murderous auras on him.

_'Uh oh…'_ he trailed off as they advanced menacingly towards him.

"So…are you going to tell me yet, Ryoma?" The subject of the talk pointedly looked away. "It's been three years already since you asked me to teach you. You cannot hold out any longer."

The twitching pile that was Kevin untangled himself from the floor. "You don't have to share now, if you don't want to," he said as he ignored a deadly glare from the girl next to him. A poor fault on his part indeed. But he was lucky. She sipped her coffee, thankfully ignoring him.

"Well, I've got to get to work. I expect an answer within the week. Take your time to think about it, and whether you want to tell me now or later is up to your decision," she left, walking down the hallway to her room. Kevin also got up, muttering something about going on a date, but slipped on a puddle of water, courtesy of Kurai. Ignoring the curses directed toward her in the background, Ryoma finished eating. A beam of sunlight shone down on suddenly exhausted boy.

_What am I going to tell them…?_

The New York skyline twinkled majestically in the dusk sky. Kurai stared out of the vast window, sighing in fatigue.

_That boy…_ Alright. Technically, he was the elder, but she sometimes felt that she was the one that was stronger, AND older, mentally as well as psychologically.

"Tadaima," chorused Kevin and Ryoma from the door.

"You two take forever to play tennis, don't you?" She questioned, raising a slender eyebrow.

"Who are you?" Kevin joked, "You should've gotten used to it already."

"Your point?"

"BURN Kevin, burn," laughed Ryoma.

"HEY!"

"Hay is for horses," reminded Kurai.

Like normal young adults or 21-year-olds their age, they tossed back verbal fights, back and forth, much like a tennis rally. The verbal rally ended in all three of them laughing on the rosewood floor.

"_這是我的時代__有我給你未來__…"_

"Shoot. My phone."

Kurai retrieved her phone while looking at the caller ID. Her face broke into a wide smile. She answered it, putting it on speakerphone.

_"Kurai! Ryoma! Kevin!"_

Identically, their faces were little rays of sunshine.

"Kara!" They answered quite happily. "Long time no see! Or talk…"

_"Open your front door!"_

Curious, they complied and at once were rewarded by a Chinese girl embracing all of them at once in a bone-crushing hug.

"Did ya guys miss me or what?"

"Yes, we missed you, but not your hugs." She sheepishly let go of them.

"Must be a habit that I picked up from Laurie…"

But, automatically, she turned serious.

"Ok, we've got a new job to do."

Their reactions were immediate, souring the mood almost immediately.

"Wow, must be a big job if they want all of us," mused Kevin.

What would their client need with a group of underground elites, an assassin (Ryoma), a swindler (Kevin), an all-rounder mercenary (Kurai), and a wizard-class hacker (Kara)? They all pondered over this, before leaving the now dark and cheerless room. Meanwhile, in Japan, a certain person, wait, scratch that, a COUPLE of certain people, specifically, four people were arguing in a massive mansion, courtesy of one Atobe Keigo.

*In Japan*

"Keigo~!" whined Fuji. That was surprising; Fuji never whined.

"What, Syuusuke?" Atobe Keigo, now the head of Atobe Corps replied, exasperated with his lover's whining. Sure, the world was shocked when Atobe Keigo, once heir to the Atobe Corporations, announced that he was gay, or as he so eloquently out it, "merely attracted to the same gender" quote for quote. Really, why couldn't he come out of his walk-in closet and just say he was homosexual?! Anyway, back to the current situation.

"But, Keigo, I don't need bodyguards!"

_Of course._ Atobe mentally face-palmed. This again.

"Syuusuke-" he began, but was interrupted by two more people walking calmly into his office.

"You know, there was a reason why knocking was invented," Atobe said, annoyed.

They both promptly ignored him; Tezuka Kunimitsu and Sanada Genichirou were not people who rose up to deliberate bait.

"Syuusuke's right," Fuji cooed up at Tezuka, where he was wrapped around his lower waist. That was fast.

"We don't need bodyguards," Sanada was quite annoyed, although his face did not express it. Really, these "guards" stalked him everywhere, even when he told them not to follow him because he was just going to train. But, NOOOOOOO, these brainless idiots don't comply. "We're just doing our job," they said monotonously. Didn't the work-obsessed zombies have anything better to do in their spare time?! Sanada broke off his mini rant in his brain, when Atobe sighed. Atobe did look quite tired half the time.

"Ore-sama told you, these bodyguards are here to protect us. There are many terrorists and underground organizations that would like to assassinate me, and would love to use you as a tool to get me."

"But they're interrupting my private time (cough gasp choke) with everyone else!" said Fuji.

"And they're intruding in my personal space." Tezuka added.

Atobe sighed; this was going to be a LONG talk. He dismissed the guards by his side, ignoring their protests.

"But, sire!" One of them protested.

He glared at them. "This is a personal affair. Go."

No argument could be made; they backed out of the soundproof office. An awkward silence filled the room. Surprisingly, Sanada was the one to break it.

"Anyway, instead of completely taking away the guards, Keigo, can you lessen them at least? That should be alright."

Pondering over this, Atobe slowly nodded his consent. Fuji brightened up considerably.

"Now I am able to go outside without an entourage." Frustrated by this, Atobe barked out, "Be serious! You could die anytime! …Just like we lost him…and what a foolish mistake that was…"

Everyone fell silent, not liking how he reminded them of their foolish mistake in the past. Tezuka observed Atobe from afar. Atobe, these days, was different from his youth. He was even tired now, worried about them and his company. Faint black bags were on pale skin, under tired purple eyes all the time.

_When is he ever going to rest? He knows we have a trip to __New York__ in a week…_

But soon, his question was answered.

"KEIGO!"

*New York9:00 PM*

Strangely, just as Atobe collapsed in his office back in Japan, Ryoma was getting shivers down his back.

_Must be the night air_, he decided, as he packed the "tools" of his trade, of choice, of course. He decided to be safe, bringing poison (no fun!), daggers, a gun, and a small katana.

"Ryoma! Hurry up your prissy behind out here! We've got 3 hours till we can reach our client's place. They requested us IMMEDIATELY."

"Hai, hai," he shouted down the stairs. "Jeez, women," he grumbled under his breath.

"I agree."

Kevin situated himself next to Ryoma. Ryoma wasn't startled; in fact, he had sensed Kevin's presence moving towards him for a quite awhile now.

"This client's a lot pushier than normal," he commented.

"We're going to ditch you if you don't hurry up~" sang Kara, down the stairs.

"Coming, coming," they chorused.

*Limousine*

Kevin fell asleep as soon as he got into the limo.

"Ah, well, today was an exhausting day for him, I guess."

Kara smiled affectionately down on the golden haired male, before wrapping a fleece blanket around him. He unconsciously leaned into the warmth of the blanket. One should not be surprised by this; Kara practically thought of Kurai, Ryoma, and Kevin as close as blood siblings and family.

But today, there was something wrong, even if the others could not sense it. They were tenser than normal, due to some unknown reason. Being above an average wizard-class hacker, if they could be considered average at all, had sharpened her mind well into the insights of the workings of the human psyche. But Kara had a hunch in her mind that it was related to why Ryoma had suddenly appeared before their doorstep one warm evening and demanded to be taught the arts of assassination. She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear Ryoma call out her name.

"Kara. Kara!"

Startled, she responded with an intelligent "What?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Can you snap Kurai out of her reverie? It seems like she's lost in Lala land right now."

"Oh, lemme fix that."

With that, she leaned over and grabbed a water bottle out of the cooler. Popping the top of it, she proceeded to dump the whole thing over Kurai, who was pondering over useless things like "Why is Barney purple with green spots?" out the window.

…well, after Kurai was drenched unceremoniously with ice cold water, she let out a string of curses, while Kara and Ryoma were rolling over in mirth.

Jack, the driver of the limousine as well as a very close friend of Kara's and Kurai's, cried over the speaker, _"Hey! What's so funny? I want in!"_

_"Focus on the road, Jack."_ Was heard over the speaker as Toki, another one of their friends, reminded him.

"Kara!" Kurai shrieked, "What's the meaning of this?!"

Kara ever so innocently pointed to Ryoma, inflicting whatever fate that Kurai had in store for her onto him instead.

Ryoma held up his hands in defense. "I was going to tell you about what you asked a couple of days ago."

Instantaneously, the mood turned grave. Kara now had no doubt that it was about that day that Ryoma decided to become an assassin. Abruptly, she turned around and spoke into the speaker.

"Sorry, Jack. I'm going to have to disconnect all the microphones and video cameras. No complaining. This is a private issue and I would like to have no evidence of it at all."

Some complaints were heard over the speaker, but in the end, reluctantly agreed. The elite hacker took out her trusty companion in her line of work and efficiently shut down every possible record of the conversation about to take place, except for their very own human memory.

"Please continue." She continued in a business-like tone.

Ryoma exhaled and settled himself down. "Well, you guys better make yourselves comfortable; it's going to be a LONG story."

_Flashback_

__

It was like the distasteful ending of a wonderful dream.

_One day, Ryoma moved in with his lovers, but another day, that fragilely spun web snapped. Slowly, he was ignored by all of them and moved into a different room than the rest of them. It was smaller than any of the other rooms in the mansion. He was made to do menial chores for them, like any other servant. Maybe this was the reason why he got along so well with them. Each day was a constant nightmare for him. Get up, do the chores they assigned him, and go to bed._

_Karupin, his loyal, faithful, companion, was the only one that he could show his emotions to; he would laugh and play like any other child with her and only her, and cuddle her when crying to sleep. Karupin worried constantly about her owner, worry evident in her motions, always made to ease and soothe the pain of Ryoma as much as possible. The strain was getting to him. Each day, his face and arms would bear the stress of constant abuse to them, bruised and sometimes even bloodied._

_They used him as a doll, as some sort of stress reliever of their personal lives. They beat him, hit him, sometimes threw objects at him; tortured him physically in any way possible. Other than that, they completely and utterly ignored him._

_ Scratches and small wounds criss-crossed his pale arms and marred his clear skin. Ryoma fell exhausted onto his worn bed-spread. Karupin worryingly padded over to her most precious owner. He smiled a faint smile at her._

_"I don't know how much longer I can take it Karupin; it's a wonder that I haven't broken yet."_

_Today, one of his so-called "lovers" had sneered at him, even after Ryoma had helped him up after he got backhanded by Sanada, who had left the room._

_"You're a doll, a toy to be exact. You're supposed to stay like a wallflower and not show any emotion."_

_Fuji had sunk to a new low, tearing down the boy's soul. Ryoma bit his lip, struggling not to show any tears and backed out of the room quickly, leaving __Fuji__ to his own devices. Not any sooner than when he was walking down the hallway to his room, he crashed into Atobe._

_"Watch it, brat," he growled and all but grabbed Ryoma's already bruised wrist and swung him into the wall. As Ryoma lay there dazed, Atobe walked away, saying "You're an eyesore."_

_Really, if he was an eyesore, why didn't they let him leave already?! The other times Ryoma had tried to leave were a disaster; they refused vehemently and treated him with even more violence and disgust. So much for that idea._

_"Ryoma-bocchama."_

_Ryoma slowly turned his head toward the dinghy door, wincing as his neck cracked and reopened old wounds. Nori, the head butler looked concerned about his wounds. He immediately sat down and treated them like a pro._

_"Ryoma-bocchama," he began, but Ryoma interrupted him._

_"I am no longer worthy of that title anymore, Nori-san."_

_ But Nori shook his head. "In my eyes, you deserve that title far more than any of the other young masters."_

_Karupin instantly meowed her agreement. Chuckling, the butler leaned down to feed her some kitty treats and give her a gentle rub behind her ears. She purred in delight._

_"Ryoma-bocchama" he started the sentence with the same thing that he said before Ryoma had interrupted, "Enough is enough. You don't have to deal with them anymore. I'm moving you out with force if I need to; you don't belong here to be crushed by their hands. Live your life a little; take this old man's advice."_

_Ryoma tried to draw breath to argue, but stopped. There was no way he could defend himself from the truth. Since when did I become so masochistic? He wondered. When was I already this broken…? When Nori saw that Ryoma would not argue, he smiled._

_"Everyone has already gotten most of your stuff packed; all we have to do now is to wait for the right opportunity."_

_Ryoma gathered enough wind to speak. "Where will I stay?"_

_Nori's eyes twinkled. "Ah young man, I do recall the day we first conversed, you mentioned a very dear twin sister of yours. I have tracked down her whereabouts and contacted her. She was very upset when she had found out about your treatment."_

_Ah, I had forgotten about Kurai. Spending time with Keigo, and the others had made him forget all other people precious to him in his life. To be honest, Ryoma thought that they had probably forgotten his name, instead referring to him as "the doll" or the "toy", courtesy of __Fuji__. He really needed to go, before he forgot how to live. With a new resolve, he hardened his heart and vowed never to fall in love with anyone again._

_A day later, that opportunity presented itself. His supposed "lovers" went out partying at a popular club downtown for the night. Ryoma and the other servants took this opportunity to make sure Ryoma left the mansion. The tearful farewell was too much for the others to handle, but they were happy now that they knew Ryoma was going to a safe haven. Ryoma left the mansion to his new future, without looking back._

__

End Flashback

Kara and Kurai had to pause there, thunderstruck.

"NOW I know that I will KILL them, without a doubt."

Kurai was furious. She had heard of the treatment, the bruises and pain that he went through, but he never told her the full story.

Kara pondered this in silence, her heart churning in anguish as she thought about all the hardships that Ryoma went through before. No wonder he became such an extraordinary assassin; talent like his rarely entered the underworld. She grew cold when she thought about it. No one, NO one, deserved to be treated like that.

"And I'll help you Kurai," she growled out.

She was skilled at the double-gun fighting style, a unique way of fighting that she had taught herself and invented after a close call.

Ryoma looked at the two who were furious for him, with new eyes. He never knew that they would understand and care for him, on their behalf.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Their eyes softened and both leaned over the aisle between the seats to give him a hug.

"That's what's family is for."

Out of the tinted windows, Ryoma could see the looming warehouse in his peripheral vision.

"Guys," he called out, "we're here."

_**End of Chapter 1**_

* * *

Well, that's the end of Chapter 1; hope you all enjoyed it. There's barely a mention of Karupin in here...... I couldn't fit her into the story. Cry. Wait for chapter 2 soon! Happy Thanksgiving or Happy Turkey day to y'all! Hope you like the plot so far, AtobeLover~! :D

Please click the green review button below so I know how I did on my first OT5 story~


	2. The Wealthy Client Shrouded in Mystery

Chapter 2: The Wealthy Client Shrouded in Mystery

AN: I am sorry that this took a long time to come out. I am going through a very stressful period of my life very early. TOO early, in fact. One of my friends tried to commit suicide. It's very stressful and depressing when you think about it. But if you're all wondering, she's fine. I am slightly depressed and sad right now so pardon me if there are any mistakes and if it is horrible.

PS. Since barely anyone is voting on my poll on my profile, and thank you, the ones who did, I have decided to upload this chapter with the most popular group name. So far, Styx is in the lead, and Styx it shall be for this chapter.

Warnings: There will be some character deaths in here, but not the main characters. No haters please! Contains hints of other pairings like MizukixYuuta, etc.

You know the drill:

*This* indicates time, location, etc.

_This_ indicates thoughts and sometimes, noices.

"This" indicates speech.

Story Begins.

* * *

"_Guys," he called out. "We're here."_

Kurai led the way through the elegant hallway, their shoes muffled against soft red carpet. Kevin and Ryoma flanked her, while Kara walked slowly behind them. They were led by a sophisticatedly dressed butler, who had a hidden gun, but was already found out. The end of the hallway led to an intricately-carved door, gilded with lavishing of wealth, from rare gems to precious metals. The ornate door opened slowly so that, despite its bright and glittering form, it gave off a rather menacing and dark aura. Behind the doors of gilded hell, imagine walking down a king's royal ballroom, the carpet soft and lush, immediately leading toward the seat of the sovereign. Well, now you know how they felt as they walked down the abnormally long room. At the end of the room, sat a lone throne, draped with rich fabrics and gilded with false lure. They did not wait long, though, for that forged heavenly seat to be filled. A fragilely-spun silk screen covered the person who entered and slowly sat themselves down at the chair. He held a tall, graceful flute filled with crimson, blood-red wine and swirled it around once in the palm of his hand. They could tell it was a male even if he moved like a wraith from place to place due to his voice when he spoke.

"So," a melodious, subdued yet with an undertone of fire, voice slid out from between soft lips. He was wearing a masquerade mask, popular these days with aristocrats at parties. "And so we meet, STYX. Please introduce yourselves."

Kurai took the initiative first, being the leader of STYX. "I am PHOENIX."

Ryoma stepped up to plate. "I am LYNX."

Then it was Kevin. "I am MERLION."

Finally, Kara introduced herself. "And I am KIRIN. Together, we make up STYX."

Their voices matched their faces, which were covered by white wax masks devoid of any emotion.

Their client stared down at them, a hint of a smile playing around the corners of his rounded lips.

"You sound so young. Around 21, maybe?" He spread a lazy hand over toward the others, who immediately tensed up. "Relax," he drawled, when he saw them stiffen up visibly. "It's all part of the agreement, isn't it? I'm not going to have armed bodyguards, security cameras, microphones, or anything of the like."

"We would like to get onto this business as fast as possible," Kara continued smoothly. Dressed to impress in a sharp black and white suit, in fact all of them were, she made quite a daunting figure. Unfortunately, their client did not find it like that.

"Loosen up, sweetheart. We have all the time in the world." His tone of voice was rather, suggestive.

Kurai instantly hated that, how the client was toying with them. "Don't mess with us." She left out masses of unspoken threats drift out in her dangerous, yet sickly sweet tone of voice. Most patrons would have been intimidated, but this client was the complete opposite. He seemed amused, not offended or cowed.

"Ah," he faked a sigh, "very well then. As you wish." He clapped his hands, all business. "Dan, get the list."

The said servant bowed and went off into a small side door, still prettily decorated. Minutes later, he reappeared again, holding a silver tray in his white gloved hands. On that platter, there was a creamy white piece of paper, only marred by the thin spidery black lines of ink. Without any communication between the two, he proceeded to where they were standing and presented them the innocent looking paper. They knew better though, for if you picked up that piece of paper, you were bound by Underworld contracts to do what it bided you to do.

"What is it that you wish for us to do?" Kevin questioned. Being a swindler, he was the one that had all the fun interrogating people, since he was so good at it. For him, it was just practice for the real thing.

"I merely wish for you to eliminate some people thought worthless on the list. More will be added later on, when I get more information."

Ryoma's lips curled back in a feral snarl, though it was not shown beneath that cruel, hard, cold, wax mask of his. It seemed like all aristocrats were filth these days; getting rid of people who had upped them in a mere tryst, just like trash. They had no inhibitions of human life whatsoever.

Seeing hesitations in the air, their patron grabbed onto it eagerly. "You will be paid 3 million dollars beforehand. Each elimination of a single person, you will be paid 1.5 million. Upon completion, you will be paid 5 billion dollars. All in cold hard cash." As to prove his point, two burly looking men came in and carelessly opened a large suitcase. Bundles and bundles of bills fell out, drifting toward the floor, in front of widened stunned eyes beneath masks.

"That's a lot of money…" Kara whispered toward Kurai. "Way more than any other regulars before him."

Their client could see in the slight shifts of body movement that he was slowly, but surely swaying them over. "And upon the event that you do not accept, there will be 10 million to buy your silence."

There. That was it. He definitely won this round. He could literally see the cogs in their brains working, churning out scenarios in mere seconds.

Kurai sighed. "Fine, we accept." She took the list and looked it over once. Raising an elegant eyebrow, she noted that there were a LOT of people on that list. So many that it might've be considered suspicious and a massacre if they killed all of them altogether or in succession. She passed it around to the rest of the elites, who took as much time as she did to look down the rest. A few names were more prominent than the rest.

"Kite Eishirou? That's a pretty big name you've got on there. Any reason for why you're going after quite a successful politician that was just involved in a scandal?"

Their hirer smiled. "No reason; it's just fun letting people suffer. Seeing them suffer by breaking down their successful career and making it lose it all, when they have nothing." He let his sadistic personality shine through his pleasant front. He reminded Ryoma and Kara and Kurai of a certain tensai they remembered from years ago. Luckily, Ryoma did not make the certain connection to who right there and throw a fit.

"What is our time limit? I would prefer that we do this over a long course of time, and not get caught. For it would be like a massacre." Kurai asked the most important question for that night.

"You have no time limit. As long as you get those done, I am satisfied. Please note that there will be more names added on the list later."

This was better than expected; a pretty lenient patron was better than expected.

"However…" Damn it. They knew there was going to be a catch; there was always one. "I request that between each killing, there will only be at maximum, half a month between them. That way, it will keep the police dancing on their toes and make the game even more interesting. Plus, you will be given free reign to do whatever you wish to your prey before you eliminate them. Is that alright with you?"

Hmmm…this request wasn't so bad after all. Because all that STYX loved, was a fun game when it boiled down to their jobs. With an air of finality around it, the final words were spoken. "As is your wish."

*The Next Day*

Yawn. Everyone was tired from the events that occurred last night. In fact, they were so tired that the moment they got back to their cozy apartment, they collapsed on the couches and slept there. Somehow, they had managed to foresee this and luckily, left blankets on the leather couches.

Kara made coffee for all of them. Groggily, they accepted, except for Kevin, who was still asleep on the floor. Somehow, during his sleep, he managed to roll off the couch and land on the floor. What was amazing was that he managed to sleep through it. Comfortably as well.

"Kevin, time to get up."

Shifting under the blankets, he made no move to get up. Instead, he snuggled up even more under his blankets. This only pissed Kurai off.

"Kevin," she kicked the lump of blankets, which he let out a groan of protest. "Get up or I'm getting the bucket."

Immediately, he sat up. "NO! NOT THE BUCKET!"

He frantically ran around in circles, only then did he notice that they were all suppressing their laughter, visibly shaking. Only a snicker from Ryoma broke this silence and they all burst out into helpless laughter.

"Gee, real funny guys, REAL funny." Kevin rolled his eyes. "What did you wake me up for, at an ungodly hour in the morning?"

"Oh PLEASE. It's already past noon. It's not even morning anymore." Kurai rolled her eyes back at him.

"Well for one, we can start planning ahead for tomorrow night's game. Let's enjoy it as much as possible shall we?" Kara pulled out her laptop.

"We'll start with the first name on the list. Let's see. Mizuki Hajime. Hmmm, that name sounds familiar. He was the annoying guy that kept twirling his hair like a girl and was the manager of the St. Rudolph team, if I remembered correctly."

"Yeah, you still remember that Ryoma? He was the annoying prick with absolutely no thoughts for his teammates." Kurai spoke up from her cross-legged position on the floor.

"Hunh. He didn't make much of impression. Guess he was a supposed expert when it came to fashion. The CEO of a fashion line whose clothes are known globally." Ryoma recited from the list.

Kurai made a disgusted face. "Now you've just reminded me of that HORRIBLE and DISGUSTING purple sweater with roses on it. GROSS."

"Well, as much I would like to continue this amusing chat, this guy has an average security system but a whole lotta mirrors and lights in his office. Apparently, he likes looking at himself a lot." Kara narrated.

The others crowded around her laptop where she had hacked into Zuki's headquarters. That was the name of the company apparently. That spoke volumes about it; what kind of normal person would make a company name that was already a part of his owns? Guess it was the domination gene, the need to rule everything in your life as perfect and harmonious. Well, on screen, they could see multiple little screens of the security cameras. Little people were walking back and forth every now and then. Then bingo. They hit the jackpot. A couple of security cameras were installed in the office of the head honcho himself. Currently, the automatic door to his office was locked (Kara had hacked in and saw it) and he was making out heavily with this guy who probably was his secretary. He had close-cropped light brown hair and a little x-shaped scar on his forehead.

"MY EYES! THEY BURN!"

"Ok. THAT, I did not need to see."

Were the various reactions heard from first Kurai, then Kara.

"Oh, grow up, two." Kevin snorted. "It's not like you're little kids anymore."

"Whatever. Moving along, we have to observe this stupid boring little office and see the patterns in their schedule."

The rest of the day was spent like this, observing in shifts. To put it lightly, after a few hours of surveillance, they were bored to death. Currently, it was around 8:00 pm and it was Ryoma's shift. He yawned loudly and stretched his sore back muscles, stiff from the cramped position he sat in for over an hour. Purring slightly at the satisfying crack that he heard in his muscles, he leaned over the couch and typed a few commands into the laptop, which responded immediately. He liked this one.

_Mental note to self. Ask Kara for a similar laptop. If she declines, get Kevin to "steal" one of the same model and make for me._

A noise by his right ear gave him something more pleasant to focus on than the droning computer screen. He accepted his jasmine tea, wincing at the contact with his skin, for the ceramic cup was quite hot. Sipping at his sweet tea- just the way he liked it, he settled himself down for another long hour of intense scrutiny. Rustling noises were heard as Kevin settled himself down to relieve some of Ryoma's boredom.

"Where's Kara and Kurai?" he questioned. He hadn't heard them for a while and was getting slightly worried for his twin sister.

"Out for a night downtown. Some friends of them literally dragged them there."

"Oh. Guess it'll just be us two then."

A comfortable silence broke down upon them, being interrupted occasionally by little sips of tea. That silence was broken when Kevin spoke.

"Ugh. This guy really has nothing better to do, doesn't he?"

His eyes were glued to the luminous screen. This was like the 4th time that day that the Mizuki person was making out with his secretary and getting it on with him. Due to loud screams and moans from various "activites" with his boss, they found out that the person's name was Yuuta. A name that Ryoma found familiar but just couldn't put his finger on it. Frankly, he didn't need to bother. Kevin and him were just amazed at the fact that people throughout the entire 30 story building didn't hear them yet. Either they were used to it or too stupid and deaf to notice, or the office was soundproof. The latter sounded more practical to them. There was no way that they couldn't hear it; the Yuuta person screamed pretty loudly.

"What's with you today, Ryoma? You seem down." Kevin commented while tracing circles on the feather-soft carpet.

"Nothing much," he sighed. "Just tired. Think how much work this is going to be for the next few months, fun as it might be."

"Ah. That reminds me, Kurai and Kara are going to get a kick out of this, because they haven't been able to do anything recently. They'll probably want to toy with the victim first, then utterly crush them mercilessly. Plus, look on the bright side! No worries about rent for awhile!"

Ryoma smiled at his friend's enthusiasm, but then suddenly thought of his mental note.

"Hey Kevin?"

"Hmmmm?"

"I like this laptop; could you swindle a type like this for me?"

*Japan 3:00 PM*

At the exact same moment that Ryoma was asking Kevin for a laptop, Sanada Genichirou sighed. He just went to check up on one of his lovers. Apparently, he had collapsed due to sleep deprivation and all the stress pent up from his work. The doctor said that he needed a few days of rest. It nearly broke their, as in his other lovers, hearts to see Keigo so fragile between the pristine silk sheets. They had never seen this side of Atobe before- he was always so headstrong. He sighed, for the millionth time it seemed today, before he left the room, walking down the chic hallway. A noise sounding on the upper landing alerted him. His eyes fell toward the two figures, one slimly built and the other more muscular but still lean.

"Genichirou, how is he?" Tezuka's hair was tousled, indicating that he just waked up from the throes of slumber. Fuji was the same, yawning slightly, as he covered it behind his mouth. "He's still sleeping, but he's doing well. The doctor says he just needs to sleep." Their aura cheered up excessively, relieved that he was doing well.

"Well, we have to start packing; our trip to New York is in less than a week. Keigo will surely be well by then."

An unspoken agreement was spoken between them. _I know that he will._ And with that, they dispersed to pack their belongings.

*New York 11:00 PM (Two hours later)*

Kurai and Kara returned to the complex, only to find Ryoma and Kevin completely burned out on the cream-colored sofas.

"Really! These guys! I tell them to keep watch and they crash out?!"

"Maa, maa, Kurai. Calm down; who wouldn't be tired of observing the same things over and over again?"

Kara sat down on the sofa where Kevin was, holding the laptop. Kevin snuggled into the newfound warmth, much like a child against a mother. Smiling at this revelation, Kara soon turned to the laptop. Her practiced eyes scanned the screen quickly, the light reflecting off the orbs in a data-like way. Kurai was kind of freaked by this. Guess that when master hackers are into their work, they really are in the zone for it.

"Anything new?"

"Yes. It seems like Ryoma and Kevin have fully finished observing the schedule and made up a schedule of all the day guards. Now, all we need to do is to observe the night guards."

"Oh, JOY. That sounds fun."

"…You know sarcasm isn't helping, Kurai."

*The Next Day; Japan, 6:00 AM*

"He's up!"

Fuji's joyous call rang throughout the entire mansion. Sanada and Tezuka awoke with a start; they had slept together tiredly for the night, worried about Atobe. They rushed awake, dressing hurriedly and not even bothering to tame the wild mane of mussed up hair.

_Bam._ They ran into the room, while Fuji was staring at Atobe, whose eyes slowly opened at the disturbance.

"Water," he managed to croak out. Sanada diligently poured out some refreshing water into a glass and gave it to Atobe. Atobe drank it down.

"Ara, are all of you that happy to see Ore-sama? I hope that you haven't forgot to prepare for the little trip."

Yup, that was the Atobe blood in him speaking. No one can stop him now; he's on a roll. And when Atobe gets on a roll, there's no stopping him. It's like a bomb on steroids. Fuji rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yes, yes, mother."

"Ore-sama is insulted."

"Keigo, don't worry about us. Worry about yourself." Tezuka spoke up.

"Hai, hai."

*New York, 10:00 PM*

The body slumped to the ground, dead. A group of people kneeled, circling the body, looking down. Silently, they rose, their luminous eyes glowing like a beacon in the dark. A figure trembled quietly in the little space below the desk for the feet. He prayed for his life, chanting for help in his head like a mantra. The four people swept their scary eyes across the room. One of them whispered breathily to the others, "This target is dead. Time to go for the others. This game will be on for a long time." They all laughed softly, although they were quite maniacal. Not finding anything of interest, they turned their backs and left, much like wraiths. He shuddered, for he had realized he was in the presence of possible the scariest people on Earth, the Underworld elite organization called STYX. The white masks that they wore were known world-wide and were now going to give him nightmares for as long as they possibly could. As soon as he thought it was safe, he crawled out and made his way toward the still-warm body.

"Mizuki," he choked out and bent over it. "WHY?!" Tears streaked his face as he hugged his beloved. He could only imagine why they had chose to kill his lover and not him. After all, Fuji Yuuta was a pro tennis player, and had made his relationship with Mizuki public, as the latter insisted on it. The Underworld people were too first-rate with their jobs, especially in killing so why did they leave him alive?

_Why couldn't they have killed me with Mizuki?!_ The resounding wail of a siren was heard in the distance. But it was too late…

Meanwhile…

"Kurai, why did you not let Ryoma kill him? The guy under the desk."

Kara questioned softly. The other two's ears perked up; they were curious too.

Kurai shrugged. "There wasn't a reason to. Plus, he may be useful in this little scheme."

Kevin caught on pretty quickly. "Ah, you forgot to add something. You left him alive on purpose and left him the bait, hook and sinker. All of this to make it more interesting, am I right?"

Ryoma snorted. "Ah, what fun. We'll have epic car chase scenes with police surrounding us the entire time every time we make a kill. Joy, oh happy, happy joy."

"But it'll be fun, assuming that that person below the desk, Yuuta, if I'm not mistaken, passes it on. And without a doubt, he will pass it on."

As Kevin was saying that, the said person was doing the exact thing mentioned in the dialogue above. He trembled violently in the presence of the police, clearly shaken by what he had only recently gone through. They asked him questions and all he replied was with one thing.

"It was them, STYX. And their new and latest reign of terror is only beginning, for soon, they will throw the world into turmoil and chaos."

* * *

End Chapter 2

I figured since that it was near the holidays, I would upload earlier than I expected myself to. Sorry if the scenes were remotely crappy; I absolutely cannot, I repeat CANNOT write sappy romance scenes. AGH. Need to work on it. Sorry if this chapter is shorter than the one before it- I ran out of inspiration and ideas halfway into this chapter. That explains why the bottom half of this chapter is so bad. Sorry. Please keep reading and waiting for the next chapter. I will update as soon as possible!

Once again, thank you, the people who voted and reviewed! I appreciate it very much!


	3. Let the Bloodbath Begin!

Let the Bloodbath Begin!

**A/N**: Well, here's the third chapter. Not much to say this time. Sorry it took so long to come out. By this time, I do hope you know the drill. Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out; I was obsessed with Super Smash Bros Brawl for awhile. xD;;; Heh heh… Also, I was and still am, obsessed with the fabulous DBSK. :D Any good songs from them for me? Besides Mirotic, Purple Line, and Bolero that is.

_To the world, you are one person, but to one person, you are the world.- _Fanfiction writer

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Prince of Tennis characters or anything else having to do with it. However, I do own my OC's, Kurai and Kara and this AU.

**Warnings:** More character deaths and other pairings. Consider yourself warned. The pairings are Dirty Pair, MizukiXYuuta, ShiraishiXChitose, KenyaXZaizen, Emerald Pair (InuiXKaidoh), Kinky Pair (YanagiXKirihara), AtsushiXRyouXSaeki, KajimotoXWakato, Tanaka twincest, Platinum Pair, Sweet Pair (MaruiXJirou), and KiteXRinXKai, to name most of them.

*This*- indicates location and time.

_This_ indicates flashbacks and thoughts.

"_This"_ indicates speaking over a phone, walkie-talkie, etc.

Story Begin~

* * *

*The Next Day from where we left off- Japan, 4:00 AM*

"Atobe mansion's butler speaking. How may I help you?"

"…"

"Ah, I see. I'll send you up on line 3."

"…"

"You're very welcome, madam."

The butler to Atobe's mansion hung up. About to return to his duties, he vaguely wondered why the young woman on the other end sounded like she had a cold.

"Fuji Syuusuke speaking."

"_Syuusuke."_

"Nee-san! What a surprise!"

"_Syuusuke, what I am about to tell you, you need to prepare yourself for it."_

Another voice was heard over the phone, causing Fuji's eyes to widen considerably.

"_Nee-san, it's better if I tell him myself."_

"_Are you sure, Yuuta?"_

"_Ah."_

"Yuuta! How have you been?"

"_Nii-san, Mizuki is dead."_

The important three words took a while to register in Fuji's brain. Then it struck with the full force of a bullet train. Fuji was speechless. When he was younger, he knew he shunned Mizuki for hurting his little brother. Even now, he did that too, but less, since he knew how to deal with it like an adult. Also, the little fact that he was Yuuta's lover played into it as well. Fuji knew that he was Yuuta's world and Yuuta would be devastated if something happened to Mizuki. So Fuji kept himself… civilized, as much as he possibly could be. Which saying, isn't a lot. Fuji didn't even know if he could forgive Mizuki in death, for hurting his little brother in the most grievous way. A choked sob broke him out of his thoughts.

"_Yuuta!"_

Sounds of pounding footsteps and the distinctive slam of a door as well as the faint click of a lock informed Fuji of where his little brother went.

"Sis, I'm heading over to New York today. I'm going to visit you no matter what you say. No buts."

"_Syuusuke," _he heard her sigh, _"I hope you'll do a better job of cheering him up than I could do. He won't open up to me and today, I was woken up by him screaming and thrashing around, with him looking as pale as a sheet. When I asked him about it, he refused to say anything about it."_

"Don't worry Sis." It was spoken in barely a whisper.

"_Take care of yourself, Syuusuke." Click._

Fuji hung up his own phone, troubled. A soothing hand started massaging his shoulders and he leaned slightly into the taller frame.

"How long have you been listening?"

"Since the beginning."

Tezuka had never seen Fuji look as delicate as he did now. He almost wanted to ravage the boy right there and then, but looking at the situation, that would not be the best solution. He whispered in Fuji's ear. "Syuusuke, no matter what you're deciding, we'll all support you to the end of it."

Fuji's eyes closed, "Thank you, Kuni."

Morning dawned in a few hours to find a bleary-eyed Fuji, who was having troubles staying awake. The same might have been said for Tezuka, although one could not tell due to the fact that he hid it well. All in all, to complete this picture was a strangely-exuberant Atobe, who barely hid his glee in being off to New York and an exasperated, yet amused, Sanada.

"Keigo, you're strangely cheerful for just recovering from collapsing."

Atobe hummed, content with not answering. He was in one of those moods. Tezuka sighed; he could feel a headache coming up. Not to mention that it would get worse when Fuji fully awoke and teamed up with the Atobe in the strange mood to do something even more drastic. He shared a look with Sanada, it was going to be a _long_ flight to New York. Maybe even fatal. At least, it would cheer Fuji up, if only slightly.

*New York (8 hours later) 6:00 AM*

"Famous people found dead, STYX involve-"

_Click._

"STYX's new reign will revolutionize the world-"

_Click._

"New sovereignty of fear from STYX frightens masses-"

_Click._

"The panicking public starts taking sides about STYX's new reign of terror-"

_Click._

The lone figure on the couch covered their mouth in a yawn. They grumbled about how their favorite cartoons were canceled due to the breaking news about STYX. His reaction was surprising compared to the general public's; most were freaking out about this and taking extra security measures in fear they would be the next victim. The mocha-colored coffee table in front of the cream colored sofas was littered with newspapers that stated the same things as the news on TV did, if not worded differently and in large, bold print.

"Kevin, breakfast time." A slight figure leaned against the doorframe, beckoning him toward the dining room.

The said figure yawned again and made a move to get up from the sofa, failing miserably. He growled and threw the remote down, before finally making his way up from the couch and stumbling into the other room.

"The zombie lives, just in time for a Japanese style breakfast today."

Kurai greeted him in the kitchen, apron and all. Kevin quirked an eyebrow at this.

"I hope I don't get food poisoning from you."

Kurai snorted. "Kara's cooking, not me. You fail to remember clearly that I cannot cook in any way to save my life. Yes, I admit it."

They sat themselves around the cozy, little glass table that they dined on. Being served their respective breakfasts, they quickly dug in and voiced their approval for a nice, homemade meal. They could not believe they survived this entire time on takeout.

"So, I appreciate the thanks, but, who's going to be our target today?"

Kara leaned on the back of the chair with her forearms, annoying Ryoma, who was sitting in it. But still, Ryoma promptly retrieved the abused list of people from the floor. Black lines criss-crossed the otherwise immaculate sheet of paper. Names were written on by a third party, the font curling elegantly all over the paper. More than half were marred by ugly black crosses over them, meaning that they were eliminated. The names were as followed:

_**Mizuki Hajime X**_

_**Oshitari Yuushi X**_

_**Shiraishi Kuranosuke**_

_**Chitose Senri**_

_**Oshitari Kenya**_

_**Sadaharu Inui X**_

_**Yanagi Renji X**_

_**Tachibana Kippei X**_

_**Kisarazu Atsushi X**_

_**Kisarazu Ryou**_

_**Saeki Kojiroh**_

_**Kajimoto Takahisa**_

_**Wakato Hiroshi X**_

_**Tanaka Youhei X**_

_**Tanaka Kouhei**_

_**Yagyuu Hiroshi X**_

_**Marui Bunta X**_

_**Kite Eishirou X**_

_**Hirakoba Rin X**_

_**Kai Yuujirou X**_

"Yesterday, we eliminated Kite Eishirou, Hirakoba Rin, and Kai Yuujirou. Those three are lovers so it's considered as killing THREE birds with one stone."

A loud cry from the TV was heard as it interrupted them. They all turned their heads toward the set that was installed in the snug little kitchen. Their efforts were not gone without a reward. A heart-breaking scene was seen on the lit screen.

_Paparazzi swarmed around the gray concrete building. Soon, a couple of people were seen exiting the front door and walking down the steps. Blinding flashes of cameras were seen, as well as reporters and camera crews. A large riot of reporters were pushing their way forward, shouting questions at the people. A redhead with a weird haircut was seen through the gap of people. He was crying his heart out, while being supported by a group of friends. The same was said for other people around him, mainly people that were recognized by STYX by their faces and looks. Akutagawa Jirou, Masaharu Niou, Tanaka Kouhei, Kisarazu Atsushi, Tachibana Ann, Fuji Yuuta, Kajimoto Takihisa, Kaidoh Kaoru, Kirihara Akaya, to name a few, were the ones crying the hardest, as well the redhead whose name was Gakuto Mukahi. All of them were surrounded by friends who were crying for them as well. A reporter interrupted this scene._

"_These victims" and she gave out names, "had their beloved ones murdered by the ones we know as STYX. They were-"_

_She was interrupted by loud wails behind her. Losing her calm exterior, she turned around startled._

"_YOU MURDERERS!"_

_The victims screamed out their hearts. The unspoken question of "why" was heard in the air. Tears were induced on the onlookers of this sad scene. The reporter hastily covered her emotions, wiping her tears as she turned back to the camera._

"_The dead had nothing to do in common, only one interest, playing tennis. After we had investigated a little, we have found out that the deceased had played each other back in junior high. They were all rivals, but what part does that play in linking the murders? Tune in at the 10:00 News to an exclusive interview with the famous detective, Liliaden Krauser, for more information."_

The program cut to a commercial. An awkward silence ensured the homely kitchen. They did not want to be reminded of their heartlessness so fast and take a guilt trip so soon. Well…they were trained enough not to take guilt trips, but still…these were friends that they had just killed, except they had no choice to kill them- again, binding Underworld contracts. For lesser assassins, they might not even be able to handle the fact that they could kill their friends. They would have nightmares for the rest of their lives. Even for hardcore, borderline-psychotic assassins, it would've been a hard thing to stomach as well. Good thing Ryoma did not recognize these people, as neither did Kevin, the younger selves of those two only being so absorbed in tennis that they noticed nothing else. They might have vaguely remembered it, but those faint memories were probably already buried by the years of time taking its toll. The shrill ring of a telephone pierced the air.

"Moshi moshi."

"_Kurai, the client wants to meet tonight, same place, same time."_

"Eh??? Why?"

"_He seemed slightly short of temper when he called us and hung up rather harshly, by slamming the phone down. Plus, he mentioned, no exceptions. Cancel all killings for today and come."_

"Ugh. Fine."

With that, she hung up on Toki. Curious eyes looked toward her.

"The client wants another meeting tonight. For whatever reason, I do not know. Probably to add more names on the list."

Their eyes drifted toward the much abused list.

"Not again."

*New York 12:30 PM, Airport*

_Frrrrroooooommm. _The private jet landed smoothly on the runway. It took only half an hour for its four passengers to unload everything off the plane. Considering that it wasn't them who did the unloading, but a whole lot of servants.

"I'll be going now."

"Syuusuke, look after yourself, will you? New York is as about as safe as it can get but you never know what will happen."

"Hai."

The said boy hopped into the black car, not a limo, since he did not want to draw unwanted attention to himself. It sped off toward the location that was written on a slightly wrinkled sheet of paper. After a few good minutes of driving, give or take 45 minutes, the car reached the destination, a very simple yet spacious house atop a small hill. The traveler jumped back out of the car, politely thanking the driver, and rushed with a hurried step to the front of the door.

Fuji silently closed the door behind him. He had just finished a little chat with his older sister, Fuji Yumiko. During their little talk over a cup of tea, she told him all the details of what had happened. Over all the little details she went, Yuuta's odd behavior for the past couple of hours it took Fuji to reach New York. His reoccurring nightmares, all ending with him waking himself up by screaming, his wellbeing- he looked as pale as a ghost, and other strange things that were happening that were not a part of grief for the lost of a loved one. Fuji suspected foul play. Someone or something was a part of this, and caused this. He sighed and heaved himself off the comfortable sofa. He was going to have a talk with Yuuta.

Fuji silently closed the door behind him and crept toward the huddle of blankets on the bed. Sitting down next to it and looking into the haggard sleeping face of his brother, he could help but to feel anger at who had caused this misfortune. If he ever got his hands on them, Fuji vowed that they would suffer a very long and painful death. Wistfully remembering his childhood days with Yuuta, he stroked his hair and smiled a small, sad smile at him. It seems like, in an adult world, nothing is ever as it seems. Little did he know that that saying was true, for all accounts. Suddenly, a rustling noise by his side startled him. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Yuuta was thrashing around, moaning "Come back!" or "NO!" and jumbled phrases like that. Quite worried, Fuji leaned in to calm his brother with soothing words, until he heard a word that made his blood run cold. "STYX."

*New York Kurai's Apartment Complex*

"Meh, I'm so bored."

Kevin whined from his flopped position from the couch. Ryoma looked up from the book, The House of Many Ways, that he was reading. It was quite a good book actually, and Ryoma was quite irritated to be bothered from it.

"Ne, Ryoma. Want to play tennis?"

"…"

"Please?"

"Fine, but prepare to get your ass kicked and handed to you on a silver platter."

"OI! Ryoma!"

And to the tennis courts they went. Needless to say, Kevin got his ass kicked into next week; 6 games to love. And due to the strange rules that they created whenever they played, the loser had to answer two questions truthfully. In this case, it was poor Kevin.

"So, Kevin… do you find the client hot?"

Kevin spat out his Ponta (and yes, loser buys the winner soda), and spluttered. Ryoma, noticing this reaction, grinned a grin so wide, it could rival that of the Chesire Cat. Yes, Ryoma had noticed that whenever the client had called them in for some form of business, Kevin would stare unabashedly at him, not that it was extremely noticeable under the masks they wore all the time.

_Great blackmail material…_ Ryoma thought very evilly in his mind. Hanging out in the Underworld could do strange things to your mind. Otherwise known as mind warp.

"So, Kevin, answer the question, or else…"

Ryoma trailed off towards the end, leaving the threat unspoken. Kevin paled visibly. The last time he had refused to answer the questions, Ryoma forced him into a Gothic-Lolita dress for the remainder of the week. He was hit on by gross guys for a week. Even if Kevin was homo, he did not appreciate lecherous old men coming up behind him and groping him. Those god damn pedophiles. Needless to say, Kara and Kurai was very amused and took the liberty of taking pictures and storing them away for future uses. To this day, the incident still brought tears of mirth to their eyes.

_Sigh. _"If you must know, yes."

"Haha, I knew it."

Kevin's eye twitched, GOD, Ryoma was annoying.

_Kurai and Kara's sadistic tendencies must be rubbing off on him…_

"Anyways, next question. Do you have a "thing" for him?"

_Oh noes. _This was NOT going well for Kevin.

"…yes…"

At this, Ryoma could not help but laugh out loud, causing Kevin unnecessary pain and restraint, him trying not to physically hurt Ryoma. But soon, Ryoma turned serious.

"Make sure that he doesn't find out who you are though. We wouldn't want to be on the run for a long time just because you let our identity slip through a couple of hard-core drinks."

He pushed himself off the bench and started to walk toward their car, leaving Kevin behind him in confusion.

_What…?_

*Meanwhile…*

"WHAT?!"

Atobe's yell from the other room startled Sanada and Tezuka, who were peacefully reading next to the fireplace. The cozy fireplace really did you cheer you up in the winters of New York, as beautiful as the snow was. The din in the other room dinned down a bit, but it only made Sanada and Tezuka more curious.

Atobe was furious. EXTREMELY furious. Never had he ever wanted to throw a temper tantrum so bad like right now. He calmed his harsh breathing and turned his attention back to the graceful, curling design of the receiver. The person on the other end seemed apprehensive and scared after the outburst.

"Continue."

That came out in a low growl and only furthered scared the poor servant on the other side. After an initial pause, he spoke.

"…_well, sir, it seems like STYX is having a new reign of terror in the area of New York you are currently staying in. They have killed numerous people; I suggest you tread carefully during your vacation, sir."_

"I know that, you fool! I want to know who has been killed!"

Fumbling and frantic ruffling of paper was heard over the line. After what seemed like an eternity, did the other person speak.

"_Mizuki Hajime, Oshitari Yuushi, Sadaharu Inui, Yanagi Renji, Tachibana Kippei, Kisarazu Atsushi, Wakato Hiroshi, Tanaka Youhei, Yagyuu Hiroshi, Marui Bunta, Kite Eishirou, Hirakoba Rin, and Kai Yuujirou."_

At first, the names did not register themselves directly in his brain. When it did, Atobe's mouth fell open in a perfect o-shape. They were all people, _friends_ who played tennis and were rivals back when he was in junior-high.

_Fuck._

Well, Atobe's brain must really be in the gutter to swear, even if it was in his own mind. It took him a total of 5 minutes to realize that it was not royal-like to stand there looking like an idiot, and the fact that the person on the other side of the line was trying to get his attention.

"_Sir, I have also found information disclosed to the general public that the police were reluctant to hand even us. Seeing it involves friends of yours, they handed it over. These kills, made by STYX, always left a message. The message told us who they were going to kill next and no matter how many guards and how much security was put up, they always managed to slip through and kill the target. Sometimes, it even included a list of names to be killed that were always updated with a new name. They put security around all of them, but only some were killed. It seems like STYX liked messing around with other people."_

Atobe snorted. Of course they would always succeed. He would expect no less from the Underworld's most notorious elite assassin group. The next few words caught him off guard though.

"_The messages always ended like this- 'Have a nice time trying to find us. Be on your guard; you might just be our next victim. –STYX.' It would seem that they liked leading the police on a wild goose chase every time."_

Atobe sighed, frustrated. To have this problem of all things on vacation! This was an outrage.

"Call Shishido and put me on the line with him. Ore-sama is sure that he will be more willing to disclose more information with a long-time friend."

"_Yes sir."_

Shisido Ryou, an old friend of Atobe's, was one of those working on the case. He was part of a police agency highly trained to sniff out dangerous, seasoned criminals of the Underworld. Helping him was his lover, Ohtori Choutarou, Shishido's assistant and a private eye.

_And the right job for him and Ohtori too._ Atobe mused, only to be rudely interrupted by a voice on the other line.

"_Shishido Ryou speaking. Atobe, make this quick, I have work to do."_

Well, that was put…eloquently. Atobe did notice that he sounded tired. It must be the stress of handling one of the hardest cases unsolved, simply because there was not enough evidence. STYX had killed many times before, although only starting 4 years ago, and caused numerous cases to be dropped due to lack of evidence when they stopped their sporadic killing sprees.

"Blunt as ever Shishido."

"_Cut to the chase, Atobe; I am in no mood to be toyed with."_

"Very well. Have you any information?"

"_Only the obvious one- that they are targeting old schoolmates and rivals of ours. Speaking of which, Oshitari died. Gakuto is very upset and is suffering depression right now, as is all of the victims' friends, lovers, families, co-workers, etc. I would advise you to visit him and cheer him up. Other than that, we have found nothing, other than the fact that we almost caught them."_

His voice had an edge of frustration to it.

"_We were so close! They managed to escape barely. The only glimpse we caught of them is that there are four of them, but there may be others helping them. They seemed quite young, give or take in their early twenties around? An unusual age for such elite assassins as well."_

"I see. That is unusual for the top-ranking assassins right now. Anyways, it seems like I should pay a visit to the victims right now. Where are they?"

"_Currently, all of them are staying at The Carlyle hotel in New York City right now. Are you close to there? It's just been after the funerals and I suggest you tread very VERY lightly."_

"Thank you, Shishido. I'm close to that hotel."

"_Don't thank me. I trust that you be very careful; looking at a heart-breaking scene like that for too long is bad for the heart. Good bye then, I have work to do."_

And with that, he hung up. Atobe chuckled. Shishido really didn't change from junior high, didn't he?

FF

Atobe, Tezuka, and Sanada stood outside The Carlyle hotel. Atobe had explained everything that had occurred over the phone call to them. They were shocked and insisted that they come with him. Not that Atobe wasn't going to let them, that is, since teammates of theirs were hurt in this skirmish as well. …Well, not skirmish, but you get the idea. They silently entered the tasteful modern building and asked to see the grievers. The assistant seemed quite flustered at the three handsome young men coming in after more handsome men, but she handled it quite well, telling them the directions. Silently walking side by side, they entered the large lounge. The sight that greeted them nearly killed them. The mourners barely raised their eyes to assess the newcomers, instead, looking like the walking dead. Sanada immediately made his way over to Niou and Kirihara, with Niou being deadly silent and shedding only a few tears, while Kirihara sobbed his heart out. They turned to Sanada with dead looks in their eyes. They had never looked so broken before, even when they lost a tennis match. Sanada growled. If he ever got his hands on whoever had hurt his former teammates like this by killing other teammates, he promised they would be in a long and painful death (doesn't this sound familiar…). He silently comforted them, doing his best, by just being there. The same was said for Tezuka. He was over in the corner comforting Kaidoh. He also vowed that if he got his hands on the one who killed Inui…well, you get the idea. Atobe was hugging Jirou, who was crying silent tears of sorrow and soaking Atobe's designer coat, not that Atobe cared at this point. Surprisingly, he saw Fuji in the room. He mouthed "Syuu?" over to him. Fuji smiled sadly and pointed at his younger brother, Yuuta who was being soothed by his elder sister. Atobe nodded in understanding. There were other faces he recognized as well. Tanaka Kouhei, Kisarazu Atsushi, Tachibana Ann, Kajimoto Takihisa, to name a few. All were being comforted by friends and family. No one in the room was seen without tear streaks on their faces. Atobe closed his eyes and wept for his friends and rivals in heaven. It seems like Fuji, and even Tezuka and Sanada did too.

*That night, 9:00PM, Client's mansion*

"I want you to kill some more people. My spies have found that they were in New York this week. But this time, I have a personal request. I want you to kill them in front of me."

Kara tried to reason calmly to the slightly angered client.

"But there is a larger chance that our identities will be found out."

"I know. That is why I'm going to reveal my identity to them, and you as well. But not now, on the day of the killing. Plus, you will be given extra money for payment today for taking this risk."

"…Fine."

STYX collected their money in cold, hard cash as always. In steel suitcases. They turned to leave, but the client called them back.

"You there, in the blond hair. Stay back for awhile won't you?"

Kevin blushed under his mask. Ryoma looked on with guarded amusement, while Kurai and Kara looked at the client with unfeeling guarded eyes.

"If you're worried, don't be. I won't hurt him. I'll even send him back in a limousine next morning, since we'll be taking a long time."

His tone of voice was suggestive. Kevin blushed even harder. Kurai and Kara looked between the two, but those two had seen right through Kevin's emotions again. Kurai sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Fine."

"Oh. Wait. I forgot to tell you who the targets will be this time."

Ryoma, Kara, Kurai turned back toward the client sitting atop his tall throne again.

"They are… Atobe Keigo, Sanada Genichirou, Tezuka Kunimitsu, and Fuji Syuusuke."

* * *

**To Be Continued~**

Well, this chapter was longer than expected and very hard to write. Haha, Atobe must've been really mad to swear even in his head. The scene with Kevin and Ryoma playing tennis will be cleared here. Basically, Ryoma noticed that Kevin had a crush on their client and their client liked Kevin too. Just Kevin didn't notice… And the reason why the client asked Kevin to remain behind is that he let his lust finally take away reason and then they will have so late-night "fun" together. ;) [wink wink] But I won't go into detail about that since this is rated strictly T. I will make a side story about it if requested, and when the client is finally revealed. The sad scenes made me cry and I really didn't want to write them… Well, at least, finally STYX targets the other part of OT5. Sorry if at the heart-breaking scene, they were OOC. Tissues will be handed out to those in need of it and reviewers. The next chapter will consist of flashbacks from when Ryoma was still part of OT5. Look forward to it!


	4. Memories of Myself, Yet Are Still Nothin

Memories of Myself, Yet They Still Feel Like…Nothing

* * *

**AN: **I wrote the beginning to this when I was feeling depressed. Please pardon the crappiness. Hopefully, this chapter clears things up. And, there's a slight mention of something adult-like near the end of the chapter so yeah, be warned.

*This*- indicates location and time.

_This_ indicates flashbacks, thoughts, and occasional TV scenes.

"_This"_ indicates speaking over a phone, walkie-talkie, etc.

Chapter 4 Begin~

* * *

Ryoma was in shock. Deep, deep shock. His nerves were on fire- his brain telling him to do so many things at once. His body screamed for bloodlust. His very soul resonated with the passion of hate, and sweet, sweet revenge at last. He stood there shell-shocked, with no indication of movement. Kurai and Kara cautiously advanced toward the statue-turned boy, under Kevin's and their client's curious eyes. Ryoma's eyes burned with the flames of rage and fury. In a deadly calm tone, he addressed the client directly.

"How long may I take to kill them?"

"As long as you want, preferably a long and torturous death. I will want to enjoy the final show."

Perking up her ears, Kurai spoke up.

"This is our last job, I assume then?"

"Yes, after this, your duties are fulfilled and I am no longer obliged to hire you any longer."

"That is fine with us."

"But I take it you know these people…"

The client trailed off as Ryoma snarled a feral sound, emitting from the back of his throat and echoing throughout the entire room. This caught everyone off guard.

"Do NOT mention those names in front of me again."

And with that, he spun around on his heel and left, for once leaving behind a speechless audience.

"I now see why his name is Lynx…" The client mused.

For the entire ride home, Ryoma was silent. Kurai and Kara did not push it either. The silence inside the limo was so palpable that one could see and touch it. When they arrived back at the lone apartment complex amidst the twinkling lights of the Big Apple, Ryoma silently went up to his room and shut his door with a loud bang, causing the hinges to squeak in protest.

"Guess we were dismissed, eh Kurai?"

Inside his room, Ryoma flopped onto the pristine emerald green color of his sheets. Raising an arm against his face, he sighed.

_I don't want to remember all these memories._

Turning on his side, he attempted to mush out the flood of memories that invaded his head with a pillow.

_All these bad memories…_

But still, Ryoma found himself crying at his wistful youth days.

_It was a beautiful spring day in his sophomore years. Ryoma remembered his sophomore years the most vividly- cherry blossoms drifting down on him while he slept, sky gazing whenever he found himself there, a large campus so that his fans would not so find him easily, four boyfriends-_

_**Whoa there. Stop mind!**_

_Today happened to be a peaceful day as well. No one bothered him and he was all alone. Ah joy, blissful bliss. He could sleep all day if he wanted to._

_**Sigh, what a perfect day.**_

"_Ryoma! Ryo-chan~!"_

_**Shit, I spoke too soon.**_

_Ryoma scrambled up a cherry tree, wanting to be left in peace today. Soon, four other people came in sight, three brown-haired, one honey-colored, another a deep, glossy brown, and the other so dark it was almost black, and the other purplish-silver colored hair. They were searching for him, Ryoma knew, but he didn't want his day to be ruined quite yet. He'd rather be left in serenity for the rest of the day, thank you very much._

_**Strange. The direction that people least look in is up. Nice tidbit of information for future use.**_

_While Ryoma was caught up in his musings and evil little plans to sleep all day in a tree, he did not notice until too late that he was falling. From a considerable height as well. With an "oomf", he landed on, a person. Specifically, a person whose name was Atobe Keigo and who just luckily happened to be right under him at the given moment._

"_Ryo- Oh, there you are. Are you that excited to see us?" teased Fuji._

_Ryoma flushed red and immediately retorted back, "The exact opposite, actually. I was trying to hide from you."_

_Fuji faked being hurt. "Why would you want to hide from me? I didn't do anything."_

_Ryoma chose to ignore him, instead, turning his attention to the amused Sanada and Tezuka._

"_Yes? Is there a reason why ALL of you came to find me and disturb me from my lovely sleep?"_

_Yes, high school still had not worked its wonders on Ryoma's attitude, sadly, as Fuji put it. He was still the same, old cocky brat from junior high. Not that any of them minded that much; after all, it was what made Ryoma, Ryoma._

"_We need a reason to come for you, brat?"_

_Ryoma yelped in surprise, causing all the others to think dirty thoughts about him and the adorable sound, as Atobe wrapped his arms around him. The shorter male glared up at the taller, and older male._

"_Keigo! Don't do that!"_

_Atobe smirked, while the others chuckled at the endearing pout on Ryoma's face._

_Scratch the earlier line about Ryoma's attitude not changing._

_

* * *

_

_The five males lay on Atobe's bed, fully satiated with their "activities" only moments earlier. The youngest (and smallest) of them all, was sandwiched between four bodies, the closer of the four being a honey-brown haired boy and a silverish, purple kind of hair colored boy, and the further being a chestnut brown haired boy and a black haired boy. Most of them had fallen asleep, but the one in the middle sure didn't. Small sobbing noises filled the room, complete with some hiccupping. This woke up Fuji and Atobe, being the closest to him and pretty light sleepers._

"_Ryoma, what's wrong?"_

_Ryoma whipped around, startled, with tears silently streaming down his cheeks. Fuji wiped them away gently, brushing Ryoma's face with his fingertips. The movement jolted Tezuka and Sanada awake. Not knowing what was going on, they stayed still, as if they were still sleeping. Ryoma shook his head._

"_Oi, Ryoma."_

_That was rare. Atobe hardly used Ryoma's real name, instead, always affectionately calling him brat. This meant that Atobe was serious and wanted Ryoma to answer the question._

"_I-I-I'm so lost right now. -hiccup- You guys -hiccup- just took me h-here and did -hiccup- things to me, and I have no idea what just happened."_

_After that, Ryoma really started crying, rubbing his eyes, and desperately trying to make the tears stop. Sanada and Tezuka sat up, surprisingly the others, who had thought they were still asleep. They wrapped their arms around Ryoma, with a little difficulty, might I mention, being so far away and all._

"_Shhhh, relax Ryoma…"_

_The night ended with Ryoma being comforted by his lovers, and the morning came with two of his lovers, namely Sanada and Tezuka, watching amusedly while Atobe, Fuji, and Ryoma grumble with the sharp pain shooting up their spines…_

_Two years later~_

_Kurai was awakened by a loud, repetitive pounding at her door. Annoyed, she quickly stomped over to the door and flung it open with a loud "BAM"._

"_Ok, who the FUCK is waking me up at an unholy time in the morning?!"_

_Her annoyance quickly flew out the window as she realized it was her twin brother standing in front of her._

"_Ryoma! Hurry up and come in! You're soaking wet!"_

_His hair was damp and shiny with water. He created a tiny puddle wherever he stepped, as the tiny droplets rolled off his skin. Not to mention he was soaked to the bone too. This picture greatly contrasted his eyes, which burned with a fire of determination._

"_Sis, make me an assassin!"_

_

* * *

_

"_Ryoma!"_

_Kurai and Kara rushed toward Ryoma, who had collapsed during one of their numerous training sessions._

"_We went too hard on him this time…"_

"_Again!"_

_Ryoma hauled himself up, his eyes blazing with determination and face gritty and marred with dirt._

"_Ryoma, it's not safe to continue this kind of training for a long time," warned Kara._

"_Pft. If he is the one who wants to continue, who's stopping him? Just let him continue, Kara. I swear that I will not kill him."_

_Kara sighed. "I know you won't kill him; he's your goddamn twin brother."_

_Suddenly, Ryoma attacked them without warning. They leapt away, twirling in [lace where they landed, like graceful cats._

"_Oh, we've taught him well."_

_Kurai taunted him. "Is that all you've got?"_

_Ryoma crouched and launched himself toward her with one powerful kick of the legs. Snarling, he flung dozen of needle sharp knives toward her, keeping an eye out for Kara, who was currently about to shoot him with her double guns. He ducked behind objects, only evading her bullets by a slight bit. His eyes widened as one of the stray bullets that he did not see grazed his upper arm, hissing a bit at the stinging pain._

"_You're wide open."_

_**Shit.**_

_Kurai stood right behind him, one of her thirteen swords bare against his neck._

"_Dead."_

_Kara jumped down from her precarious perch above a wobbling stack of crates._

"_No worries Ryoma, you did well. Kurai and I are above the skills of an average assassin, so you are about their level right now."_

"_It's still not good enough." He pointed out._

"_Ah, well…"_

"_One more time!"_

"_You sure, Ryoma? This is way over your limit."_

_He glared straight in front of him. "I'm sure."_

"_If that is your wish."_

_Spinning away from each other, Ryoma took the time to take out his best weapon, a set of metal claws. Agile and light, he could easily use these claws to their greatest advantage. He leapt in too close for Kurai's comfort, so she fly-kicked him into the opposite wall. This was how harsh assassin training was, although they were not giving it their all. He started to get back up; not noticing the heavy, steel beam above him headed his way._

"_Ryoma!"_

_When the clouds of dust dispersed, Kurai and Kara rushed to the small, limp body under the beam. They could only pray that he didn't die from such a collision. All Ryoma could remember after that was black._

_His eyes fluttered open._

"_Ryoma!" Their faces broke out into relieved grins. "Thank God you're ok!"_

_His voice broke out into a dry raspy whisper._

"_Do I know you?"_

Well, after that unfortunate accident, they had helped him regain his memory. All he could remember was four names with utter hatred. At least, he remembered Kurai, Kevin, and Kara. His family. Other than that, he could only remember vague shreds of his memory, but gaining back his memory tore his head with intense migraines, causing Ryoma to stop gaining back any memories and be content with the ones he had.

*The Next Day 6:00 AM, Kurai's appartment*

Ryoma woke up, bleary eyed with sleep. He couldn't sleep well last night, his fury at the four names accumulating increasingly. He yawned and trudged into the kitchen. To his surprise, Kara was there. She loved to sleep in as much as he did. But this time, she looked solemn. Opening her mouth to speak, she was interrupted when Ryoma interrupted her.

"If it's about the job, I will do it."

She closed her mouth, looking resigned. Silently, she got up and served him his breakfast. Kurai was gone, going to find connections about their client. He had piqued their interest after he showed that he knew all his targets. Who would willingly kill off people that they could use?

*New York, 9:00PM*

Kurai walked into a well-known classy bar downtown where her regular informants were, only to discover their very targets sitting in there along with the acquaintances and lovers of all the people that they've killed. She sat at the bar, drinking a martini and listened into their conversations. Most were already drunk, talking their hearts out about their dead beloved ones. The bartender, who was new, caught her looking at them when a bottle was accidentally knocked from its place and smashed on the floor.

"A sad sight, ain't it? Do you recognize their pictures from the media?"

She nodded, keeping her head down low. The bartender leaned in and continued in a low voice.

"They're the ones who's gots their people murdered by that group, STYX. Personally, I would stay as far away from them, just in case STYX decides to come back and finish them all off. But enough about me, what about you sweetie?"

He winked flirtatiously towards her, obviously flirting with her. She smiled a coy smile back.

"Only if you buy me drink."

"That's a done deal sweetie."

Quicker than any other bartender in any other bar, he slid a freshly-made, lime green martini complete with orange peel swirl towards her. She caught it and sipped, nodding her appreciation for the tart taste of lime and liquor. The bartender slid closer to her, a sly smile on his face.

"Sexy, why don't you come to my room tonight? There's going to be a party in my pants and they would sure like you to be there."

As to emphasis his cheesy pickup line, he stepped around the bar, and rubbed his hard clothed erection against her thigh, which her mini skirt was hitched up against. He purred seductively into her ear, at least he thought so. She considered her options, while blatantly ignoring his coming on. He wasn't that bad looking, with spiky black hair and piercings all over his ears and eyebrows, but she had come here looking for information and information she was going to get. She flirted back, all the time, coaxing information out of him, but no juice. She still had no info about their mysterious client. Leaving the bar, she sought out shadier places, but none had any information about that. She decided to call it a night.

*Meanwhile…*

Sanada was surprised when he arrived back earlier than the others to their shared suite and found a cream colored letter with his name written by an elegant hand on it. Looking around, he decided that nothing was suspicious and opened it. One could only imagine his disbelief when he read the letter. His eyebrows furrowed into his forehead. Winding lines of thin, black ink spelled out, _Sanada Genichirou, Yukimura Seiichi cordially invites you and company to dine with him the morrow night._

To be continued~

Well, how was it? I typed up the bottom half of this on a plane to China. :D Time to get lots of presents~ Hopefully, this clears all confusion that Ryoma did not remember any of the people he killed. He suffered from amnesia. Only his hatred prevented him from forgetting his former lovers. It was shorter than I wanted it to be, but I'm pretty sure you readers are tired of fillers. Review? You know you want to~ Oh, and I forgot to mention, the Chinese lines in the first chapter as Kurai's ringtone is from the song, Chu Shen Ru Hua by Fahrenheit. The next chapter will probably be the last one. I will be sorry to see this fic go…


	5. The Final Hour part 1

The Final Hour (part 1)

**AN: **Well, that's it folks. The last chapter. I think. I may do a sequel to this, if I feel like it… Sorry that it's out so late. I had other things cough-EVIL SCHOOL WORK- cough to do. Yes, I do realize I may have gotten the timeline wrong, but bear with me please. It is now my spring break and I refuse to do any thinking of any strenuous kind. You guys have experienced this before, haven't you?

**Disclaimer: **Does not own Prince of Tennis. That is a right reserved for Konomi Takeshi. However, I do own this AU and OC's Kurai and Kara. And haha, I just noticed that three of the people in STYX have names that start with "K" (Kurai, Kara, and Kevin) and only Ryoma's name starts with a different letter. …yes, you can laugh now.

Last Chapter (part 1) Start~

* * *

"What?!"

Three, well, two cries of mild shock were heard. Tezuka's just happened to be a little less pronounced than the other two's.

"Yukimura? We haven't heard from him in a while."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow.

"Why now of all times? It's been almost a decade since we've heard from him."

It was true. Ever since junior high school ended, Yukimura had stopped keeping in contact with the rest of them. Everyone thought that it was weird, but no one could contact him anyways. It was like he disappeared of the face of the earth. His teammates knew nothing either. They shrugged and decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

*The Next Day, 3:00 PM, Kurai's Apartment*

Kurai entered her apartment, disappointed in her latest search for information. She had come up dry again.

"Kurai, find anything?"

Kara questioned from her position on the floor below the couch. She was surrounded by several high-performance computers. Wires wound their way along the ground to the nearest outlet, giving the room a rather-futurey look.

"Kara, I would appreciate it if you didn't turn my living room into a mad-scientist lab."

"Haha, feeling perky today, are we? I have something that can cheer you up."

Kara turned to smile at Kurai, the light from the computers reflecting eerily off her eyes.

"I found something on our client."

*Later, 6:00 PM, Atobe's New York Highrise*

The four were dressed in their best formal wear. It was, in spite of everything going on right now, a formal although private event. Atobe was decked in purple, his favorite color, while Sanada and Tezuka chose more modest suits in shades of grey and black. Fuji wore a navy blue suit, designed by him. Coincidentally, Fuji had designed the other's suits as well. Fuji was a world renowned fashion designer after his main job of a photographer, designing everything possible. Everything he designed was well-received by both the public and critics alike.

"Come to think of it…does Yukimura even know that people we know are dying?"

"He can't be that deprived of a TV in this modern age. Since you reminded me, I read in a magazine somewhere a while back that he made quite a name for himself in the business world. The writer of the article called him a 'shrewd, calculating man underneath the warm exterior'. I do not think Yukimura is such a person though."

Sanada raised an eyebrow.

_Why do I get the feeling that something very unpleasant is going to happen now…_

Still, he ignored his intuition, and proceeded to follow the others to their limousine.

*7:00, Kurai's Appartment*

"What?! You found something?!"

Kevin and Ryoma were quick to react when they heard that Kara had found something. Kurai just kind of stood there in shock.

"Yup!" Kara toothily grinned at them, her eyes becoming u-shaped arcs of joy. "I found quite a lot of information as well, once I got the name."

"How?!"

"Don't ever underestimate my information network."

That said, Kara turned toward her computer to list the all the information that she had found.

"Our client- Yukimura Seiichi. CEO of a very large business called Snow Fields. Snow Fields operates in many fields like jewelry making, fine architecture, and all of those fancy things that aristocrats love. Also, a small branch of his business deals in weapon making. At the age of 21, he was a genius in the world of business and paved the path for young aspiring business leaders. He is also featured in many magazines as an eligible young bachelor, currently aged 23. Many women are after him, either for his money or for his 'fine' looks, but recently this year, he has escaped the armoire. Meaning that he has announced that he is homosexual. After that, a lot of men are now after him."

The rest of STYX was left in the dust as Kara stated matter of factly.

"Yukimura… Seiichi?"

Kevin weakly asked from his position on the couch. He had collapsed on the couch in shock, after he heard that the person he had slept with was Yukimura. His knees had given up on him.

"Haha, lucky you Kevin. You're the first male to "officially" sleep with him or warm his bed. You're most definitely the uke, the way you were limping around this morning."

Kevin stuttered and his face flushed until it resembled that of ripe strawberries while in the background, Kara and Ryoma roared with laughter. Kurai was seen with a smug smirk on her face; no doubt she was patting herself on the back for getting Kevin.

_Haha, payback is a bitch._

After Ryoma eased his laughter into weak chuckles, he tapped his head thoughtfully.

_Yukimura Seiichi, eh? Now where have I heard that before…_

A swift sharp pain nearly split his head in two. He clutched his head, willing the pain to leave his mortal body. Even if he did kill for a living, it did not mean that he liked pain. Kara and Kurai immediately rushed to his side, worried looks on their faces.

"Ryoma, what's wrong?"

He only shook his head, the pain intensifying with every passing second that he had tried to summon up information about Yukimura. Kara and Kurai exchanged a knowing glance filled with anxiety, while Kevin looked clueless in the background. He shrugged the knots out of his shoulders and grimaced.

"Guys, we should leave now. The dinner's going to be soon, remember?"

*8:00 PM, Yukimura's Villa, New York*

"Are you sure this is alright, Kurai?"

Kara whispered as they approached the familiar gilded double doors again. They adjusted uncomfortably in their new blood-red uniforms that were lined with silver edges. Upon arriving at the vast mansion, they were ushered into private changing rooms where they found their own set of uniforms that the staff of the household wore. Once they were changed, (Kurai and Kara had requested a different set of female clothing, after seeing that the usual female garb consisted of a dress [oh the horror] and would be too hard to move about in) they were once again led to where they were now.

"I'm quite sure. Since when was I one to take unnecessary risks, my dear Kara?"

"Since the day you were born."

Kara muttered under her breath, although not before being heard by Ryoma. He snorted. It was true. When Kurai was little, she was as much of a risk taker as she was today. She was always doing crazy things that no one else would ever think of taking. His thoughts were interrupted when the doors swung smoothly opened. He dually noted that the hinges were recently oiled to a shiny finish. As an assassin, it would be vital for a clean getaway that doors would not produce sound when they were opened even a little.

"Hmmm…so I was right."

The four tensed up at the silky voice that seemed to reverberate through the large "throne" room. Every time they heard the voice, they could not help but to repress the shudder that crawled up their spines, for their client had a way with his voice that made it resemble a very beautiful yet deadly cobra was slithering around, lurking behind the poison of the melodic voice.

"Kevin Smith, Echizen Ryoma, and Echizen Kurai. I was right in those aspects. There is still one person though."

His piercing violet eyes searched the group who already had their weapons out in their hands, only to rest on the one he knew as KIRIN.

"How do you know our names, Yukimura Seiichi?!"

Kurai snarled. The vicious sound tore itself from her throat and was echoed by Ryoma. The room took the sound as well and magnified the resonance into three times its original decibel, making it very scary to face them indeed. The man she had named was unperturbed, even when Kara shot a bullet just barely scraping his face. The silver bullet embedded itself deeply into the opposite wall.

"Arara, you of all people should know. It is common in the Underworld for people to gather information on suspicious people that you hardly even know, no? Isn't that right, PHOENIX, or rather… Echizen Kurai?"

"Tch."

"Besides, it's not like I want to harm you. You are STYX after all. It's virtually impossible to hurt you since STYX is a team of elites. Although I never expected STYX to be as young as 21. Ah well, talent and luck make up for age in the Underworld, I guess. LYNX and MERLION. Echizen Ryoma and Kevin Smith. I never knew that you two, whom I originally played tennis against and were rivals, would be part of the deadly assassin group, STYX."

They lowered their weapons. Yukimura went to the wall the bullet buried itself in and inspected it critically.

"Tch, what a waste of a bullet."

Kara tucked her guns, Ebony, Ivory, and Garnet back to their respective hidden places in her uniform. They were also their individual colors; Ivory being pure white and smooth, Ebony pure black with jagged edges, and Garnet blood-red and like a rifle that can retract into a pistol.

"Hmmm…" Yukimura still inspected the wall, not looking at anyone. "What is your name, KIRIN?"

"Why should I tell you, Yukimura?"

He met her gaze evenly.

"You were the only one I could not find information on. Your comrades were hard enough to find even a little bit of information about, but you had none."

"That's to be expected. A master hacker never leaves traces behind. It's a fatal mistake in the digital world of intricately spun webs of lies and deceits. You learn through your mistakes, that is, if you can lie your way through that kind of world."

"True enough. What is your name?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I have your comrades' names down; do you think I would not use that against you? I will call the police if I have to."

Kurai, Kevin, Kara, and Ryoma started. They drew the weapons they had just put away.

"Bastard!"

"It's not polite to talk about my mother like that. Besides, I am serious about telling the police."

"You violate our contract."

Kara stated. Her tone of voice spoke masses for her though. If you violated contracts of the Underworld, you would have the whole of the Underworld on your ass. Meaning, that if you hired anyone related to the Underworld or even saw anyone related to the Underworld at all, they would be K.O.S., Killed on Sight. Surely even Yukimura did not want to live a life completely on the run. Apparently, they were wrong.

Yukimura shrugged his silk-clad shoulders, the magenta color clashing magnificently with his royal blue hair.

"I will be satisfied as those four are dead. I do not care if I die as a cause after it; I will be content to die like that."

STYX heard his sincerity through his voice. Raising the corners of their mouths in sync, they all bowed at once.

"Yukimura Seiichi, STYX admires your strong will and heart. We will honor you as our first client to actually accept their own terms of death that comes with working with us."

His expression was first that of surprise, then turned to amusement.

"Now do I finally get to know your name, KIRIN?"

Kara bowed low, one hand behind her back, one on her heart, and right leg crossed behind her left leg.

"I am Kara."

His mouth quirked up in one corner.

"What, no last name?"

"Unfortunately for you, that is disclosed private information that I don not wish to discuss at the moment."

"Well…I can't do anything about it."

Another servant entering the room, drawing all the attention of the occupants to him.

"Sire, they're here."

*8:30 PM, Yukimura's Mansion: Front Gate, *

The fancy _purple _limousine pulled up in front of the scrolling iron gates. The iron gates opened, the spikes on top of the double gates ominously glinting in the purple dusk light.

After they were led through the massive double doors, they were led into the formal-looking lobby of the mansion. Sanada and Tezuka noticed that the interior of the manor still had a slight Japanese taste to it, with old fragile scroll paintings and antique samurai swords set on display on the wall. Fuji was more interested in the design of the room, noting how well the subdued antique feeling of the room merged wonderfully with the sharp modern edge of the furniture. It was classy to say.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. Master will be here with you shortly."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. Ah well. He seated his long limbs into a jumbled pile that looked deceptively relaxed. The other three seated themselves down too, looking like hosts from a host club that were sitting regally on refined sofas. Soon, Yukimura entered the room.

"Hello…old friends. Welcome to my manor. Although I'm sure it pales in comparison to your villas, Atobe."

Atobe rose up from the sofa to reach for the extended hand. He grasped it and shook it firmly, while looking Yukimura in the eye.

"You degrade yourself, Yukimura. This is about as fine as you can get."

"Coming from you Atobe, thank you."

Yukimura's eyes roamed over the small group.

"Ah Sanada. You're looking better than you did in years. You finally got rid of that cap that I told you ages ago to lose."

Yukimura's teasing smile broke the ice between the two factions. Fuji walked over to embrace the blunette, who often in the past was a co-conspirator of their sadistic little schemes.

"Fuji! How goes your business?"

"They're doing fine, Yukimura. I suppose that you're moving along swimmingly as well."

Yukimura nodded, and then greeted Tezuka.

"You must be hungry; let us dine then."

With that, Yukimura led them through intricate corridors that made even Tezuka dizzy to remember. They were led through a modern version of a sliding shoji screen that was eclectic in taste into a small European style dining room that looked like it was for royalty. Talk about a clash of tastes. Even Atobe had to wonder how Yukimura managed to make the two mix, Japanese and European. As the maids and butlers served dinner, Yukimura continued to make small talk with them; chatting idly about how he missed Japan, his work, etc. They also contributed to the conversation by talking about their work when he asked them, what they did after they left junior high, when did they leave Japan, etc. Although the four had this little nagging feeling that something larger was at hand, they left it at the back of their minds, however unsettling this feeling was.

_This is your last meal…_

Meanwhile…

STYX was served dinner in the servant's quarters, as not to draw suspicion from the stars of tonight's show. Yukimura, although he didn't show it, treated his hired killers quite well. It seems that he only needed them for the final show.

"Meh. So what are we going to do now?"

Kevin questioned while stuffing his face, but it came out more like this.

"Mmph. So wub ah we gwomphg tuu dou nohph?"

"Don't talk your mouth full, Kevin."

Kara reprimanded him, like a mother scolding a naughty child.

"Yeah, it's disgusting."

Kurai added on her…not so wanted advice. Kevin sulked and swallowed his food. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, making a face about how fine the material was. In fact, Kevin was very disturbed about how fancy the entire estate was and treaded carefully, not wanting to break anything. Kurai and Kevin then proceeded to argue about the merits of being disgusting or not, like two rival siblings. Kara could only sweatdrop at the scene. The entire time this was happening, Ryoma was staring vacantly into space, having finished his food a long time ago. He fiddled with a loose thread on the cover of the sofa that he was sitting on, lost in his memories. Kara noticed and watched his expression carefully, analyzing it. She was fascinated by the many aspects that his expressions had; remembrance, rage, sadness, confusion, but most of all- indecisiveness. All of these emotions flitted across his face within the span of a second, before he noticed Kara watching him and hid his emotions behind a mask of calmness.

"Are you prepared sufficiently enough Ryoma?"

She questioned softly. He only scoffed at her.

"Of course."

"Are you sure?"

She pressed on, just having the barest hints of wanting to push farther past his mask that was worn. The mask was on the verge of crumbling as well.

"Yes."

She pushed no deeper after that, perceiving the quiver of his lips that he could barely hold him. He was grateful towards her though, in many ways; for teaching him, for worrying about him, for taking him in under her wing (not to mention Kurai as well), for feeding him, for clothing him, for sheltering him, for _everything_. He had already announced to the rest of STYX that after this assignment that he was going to retire from the Underworld, having accomplished his purpose after so long. Kurai and Kara accepted it without any objections, which he was appreciative for, while Kevin was inquisitive but accepted it as well.

"Are guys ready yet? Because it's time to get into position."

Kurai's smile was frightening. It could give demons nightmares and drive away the bravest and fiercest of warriors. STYX rose up, took the serving trays and the bottle of alcohol that they would need for the plan, and left the room devoid of human life, the only sign that it was just recently inhabited the half-eaten plates of food.

Yukimura's group

After the scrumptious seafood dinner, they were led to a room that reminded them all of a throne room that was found in the middle of the castles of olden time. Sound familiar? It was the room that STYX was first led into when they arrived. Atobe and company looked on curiously at the room while Yukimura ascended the stairs. He swept his arms around him and breathed in the scent of the room. He turned around and smiled a smile that sent shivers creeping up their backs, though they were sure that they imagined it.

"Behold my pride and joy, the 'throne' room that I spent many years on collecting the finest materials and items that I specifically collected for it."

Atobe could only raise an eyebrow at this, his interest piqued. What fine objects had Yukimura collected for the sole purpose of decorating this room? He and the others wandered around, realizing how much value there was in all the fancy trimmings alone of this singular room. The articles of the room cost far more however. Tezuka found an ancient banner that alone cost about 10 million dollars at most, for zealous collectors. Fuji observed the room at a whole, calculating shrewdly the entire cost of the room itself. Sanada could only raise an eyebrow at why Yukimura would do this.

"Why did you show us this room of yours Yukimura?"

He questioned. Yukimura smiled mysteriously.

"The answer to that question will be answered shortly."

_This will be the room of your death._

Then, four young servants entered. They all carried a tray with a specific brand of alcoholic beverage. Yukimura motioned them over.

"Would you like champagne, wine, whiskey, or beer? I have a fine red wine that I've been keeping for fancy occasions or to share with old friends. Or would you like light, bubbly champagne?"

"Champagne please."

A young sturdy-looking Chinese woman stepped up with her face downcast as she approached the four young men with her tray of champagne. They all accepted their champagne with thanks. Yukimura took his blood-red wine from the tray of a young man with golden hair. He raised his wine glass, wanting the others to copy him.

"A toast," he proposed, and placed the rim of the spun glass to his lips. He savored the wine while the others sipped at their champagne. After they had what they little know as probably their last glass of a fine drink, he continued that sentence.

"To your death."

They paused, incredulous.

"What do you mean, Yukimura?!"

Sanada shouted.

"Exactly what I meant, old friends."

Only unlike before, the words "old friends" was dripping with contempt and malice. Behind him, the four young "servants" lifted their faces and straightened their backs proudly while unearthing their weapons. They also pulled out blank white masks and pulled them on, white masks that Fuji could only recognize with dread.

"STYX."

He whispered that word with terror, finally meeting the famous killers that destroyed his little brother's life. Starting, he shouted.

"You! You ruined my little brother's life! You killed our friends!"

The eyes of STYX's members glittered coldly through the eye holes of the wax mask.

"It is not our will; it is all the will of the client."

All the eyes turned to Yukimura. For the first time since arriving at Yukimura's mansion, Tezuka spoke.

"You…killed, our friends…?" He hoarsely managed to choke out.

"Not killed," he reprimanded. "Ordered to kill. All the work was done by STYX here."

He looked upon them with what could be only described as fondness.

"And damn well did they carry it out."

Atobe, Sanada, Fuji, and Tezuka were in a state that only could be described as shock. They gaped, but Atobe was the first one to regain his mind. He started to pull out his cellphone to call the police, but that idea was quickly gunned down. Literally. Kara shot his cellphone from his startled hand, effectively shutting down the cellphone for good.

"Don't move," she ordered coolly. "Or you'll be losing more than your cellphone."

Yukimura just observed the scene.

"Ah," he noted, "I forgot to introduce them. This one here," he gestured to Kara, "is KIRIN. The other female is PHOENIX."

Gesturing for Kevin to come closer, he looped an arm around his waist. The loving scene was only offset by the cold glittering eyes from the mask and the cold smile that Yukimura was wearing.

"And this here is my pet, MERLION."

Finally, he gestured to the last remaining member of STYX.

"The best for last, I'm pretty sure you can guess who it is."

"That only leaves LYNX…"

Fuji whispered in awe and even more fear. Yukimura beamed at him, eyes cold.

"Ding ding ding! You are correct! This is the famous LYNX. You sure have got your assassins down."

'I'm flattered that you know our alias, but do you know our real names?"

Their heads snapped in the direction of the speaker, PHOENIX.

"What do you mean?"

No answer was given. Instead, they ripped off their masks, the faces beneath them as cold as the wax the mask was made off. Their faces stood out prominent to their audience though. One face stood out the most.

"…Ryoma…?"

* * *

To be continued~

SO SORRY I HAD TO END THAT THERE!!! [bows on ground apologizing] Even though I was on break, I was tortured by evil work! D: I was in deprivation of friendly contact the entire break… ;__________________; I needed to end this here because I wanted to get it out for you loyal readers out there to enjoy since you had to wait so long! Sorry! This will be part 1 of the last chapter since it's so freaking long and I'll post part 2 when I'm finished typing it! Please review! Thank you to the ones who reviewed and stayed patient with me! Your reviews will keep me happy for the next two weeks to come because I can't post during that time since I have to study for my tests in school [4 FREAKING DAYS OF TESTING] and my EVIL piano test! D: I hate piano theory…. [cries]


	6. The Final Hour part 2

The Final Hour (part 2)

**AN:** Three words: SCREW HIGH SCHOOL. Thank you so much for waiting and being patient with me! =_= I'm sorry that it took so long to get out…. Don't kill me! After much consideration, I have decided to add onto this. This is NOT the last chapter, I repeat, NOT the last chapter as there will be an epilogue to this. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody! Happy birthday to AtobeLover as well, for whom I wrote this story! And I'm glad to say that I passed my piano test! :D So happy~

**Disclaimer: **Standard disclaimer applies.

Last chapter (part 2) start!

* * *

"…Ryoma…?"

He looked coldly upon his four former lovers standing dumbstruck on the elegant carpet. They looked inferior from a distance, compared to the other people standing regally upon the higher floor, looking down upon them.

"Yes. It's me."

Ryoma sneered. They all flinched, taken aback by the venom dripping down in his voice. Unconsciously, they backed up, creeping away slowly as what their minds perceived as dread. The past had creeped up on them, without them even noticing.

"Ryoma, why?"

Tezuka questioned softly.

"Why kill the people that you once valued so dearly?"

Ryoma scorned them, not even bothering to look at them.

"What valued people? I have no connection to them."

This surprised more than one person in the room.

"What do you mean?"

Fuji asked.

"I have absolutely no memories of these people that you said played tennis with me; I can't even say that I've even played tennis before."

The shock on the other four's faces were prominent. He scorned their faces, regarding them with a disgusted look on his face.

"Of course _you _wouldn't know."

With that, he turned his back on them and floated back to the rest of STYX. They readied themselves, turning towards Yukimura for future orders. Their faces were blank, ready for the order on which then they would unleash their weapons to bring the final end to their prey. Yukimura smirked down from his raised dais at the four. Gliding lithely, he sat himself gracefully into the gilded throne. He lifted a delicate hand, his finger tapping his forehead as he contemplated what to do. The four below him tensed and moved closer together, wondering what their fate would be. A slender eyebrow lifted.

"I hope you're not thinking of escaping. Otherwise, things might get a little bit nasty."

Kara's cold voice rang out from the room.

"Rather, I think they're thinking that if they die, at least they're going to die together."

Yukimura's cruel laugh sent shivers up their spines.

"How cheesy. Everything has changed about you."

Yukimura was going to take a while gloating over his final victory. To prevent their prey from escaping, STYX spread out to different corners on the balcony above them, spinning their dangerous weapons as if they were naught but childish toys. Sanada and Tezuka eyed them warily, while Fuji and Atobe were desperately racking their brains in an attempt to delay Yukimura even further.

"Why are you doing this to us, Yukimura?"

Fuji questioned, his tone soft. Sometime in the entire exchange, his eyes had opened. Cerulean blue irises stared at the one throned above him which would have made most people uncomfortable, but Yukimura was accustomed to such things. Hiring STYX was one such thing.

"Entertainment serves its purpose."

After hearing those words, everyone excluding STYX and the one who said it, recoiled in disgust and fear.

"Do you realize what you're saying? That you have-"

"That I have disregard for all life? Oh yes. Revenge plays its part in this theater too."

"Revenge?"

The disbelief on their faces made it apparent. A sinister chuckle slid out of Yukimura's lips before he replied.

"Yes revenge. You may wonder why that I, superior in everything that I do, would seek revenge. The reason is quite simple. It's because I was abandoned. By you, Sanada."

With that, he pointed a slim finger at the said person. Sanada was quite bewildered. What part did he play in this? Yukimura read his expression, his own face emotionless.

"Yes, you left Rikkaidai for your lovers. After you did that, everyone gradually drifted farther and farther away. They parted together to places that I couldn't reach, leaving me behind in the dust. No matter what I said or what I did, they all left. After all I did, they and you, Sanada abandoned me, leaving me to my own devices. But where did that leave me? Where would I go? I had nowhere to go besides Rikkaidai. It was my home. And you ruined it! Do you know how lonely it was waiting for you all to come back and pretend it was just a joke? Do you know how forlorn it was to stand in that sorrowful rain?"

Yukimura's face contorted in a grotesque sneer. With a slight cough, he readjusted his facial expression into a falsely amiable appearance.

"Pardon me, I seem to have lost my temper. That won't happen again. Remember this, old _friends_, as this is the last night you will see."

To STYX, he issued his last order.

"Kill them. But remember the promise we made; I want to see them suffer."

"Yes."

Their eyes glittered in fierce determination. Kurai and Kara grinned recklessly.

"Bloodshed we can finally enjoy, eh?"

"Damn straight."

They advanced slowly on their quarry, the killing aura thickening in the air. Kara twirled her three guns, nodding at Kurai who loosened the caution tape that she had bound around the 13 swords she carried. Kevin reached into his belt loops and pulled out a white bone whip, its segments rattling. In the meantime, Ryoma casually pulled his metal claws on, the action even more frightening by his relaxed manner. It was very rare that the four of them would fight together. Normally, they took solo jobs. But if they did fight together, their fights would progress like this: Ryoma and Kurai went in close range, Ryoma because they needed another close range fighter and Kurai because she loved to fight, and Kara and Kevin at long range, looking down at the fight and getting rid of potential threats to the close-rangers. But it was also Kara's job to analyze the fight, to direct the "troops" on where to hit. But she highly doubted that she would need it for this job. It was only for mafia extermination jobs that they needed that. Woe to the person who underestimated their abilities though. They were all-rounders, meaning that they could switch the ranges if they wished too. In fact, Kara's and Kurai's fighting styles mainly composed of switching their weapons around. They all locked on their individual targets.

"Oi, Atobe's mine. His attitude pisses me off."

"Fine PHOENIX. I lay claim on Fuji. It's going to be fun fighting him."

Kara smirked. For the sake of their work, they referred to each other by the codenames. No need to give their victims their names just in case, eh? Kevin and Ryoma settled their targets by a quick round of Janken. Kevin got Sanada and Ryoma's victim was Tezuka. Smiling grimly, they started their attack.

"Eeee hee hee hee hee hee~"

Kurai's creepy laughter filled the room. She ran across the walls, a crazy grin on her face.

"It's been a long time since I was allowed to go berserk!"

Raising an arm backwards, she slashed at Fuji. He jumped backwards, seemingly dodging the blade. A ghost of a smile flitted across his face, but quickly dispersed when Kurai smirked.

"Are you sure that you aren't hurt?"

She crooned. Her fingers flitted towards her cheek. He hesitated. What if she was just bluffing? But since her confident smirk didn't disappear as she cockily placed one hand on her hip, his fingers darted towards his cheek. A sticky substance coated his fingers and only then did he feel the stinging pain in his cheek.

"Hee hee, what did I tell you~"

A voice resounded behind him. Fuji spun around, to be met with the sight of Kurai sitting in front of him. Whipping his head back to the spot where she used to be, he was greeted with the empty space.

_How did she get there so fast…?_

His shock must have made itself evident on his face, for she sneered at him.

"Let's start with one!"

She grabbed one of her swords and started to slash relentlessly, a crazy grin on her face the entire time. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Kara just calmly shot at Atobe, Ivory in her right hand, the other hand toting Obsidian on her shoulder.

"Heh, going to dodge around like a little rat are we?"

A grin fixed itself on her face.

"In that case, I'm just going to have to get closer to you myself!"

With that, she leaped off of the balcony, and smacked Atobe with the butt of Ivory. He collapsed to the floor, temporarily immobile.

"Che. Finished already?"

With that, she called out a "Done here!" vaguely to the other residents of the room. Dusting her hands, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the results.

_What the hell? Whoever said that the Atobe's were great at martial arts was wrong. 'To defend themselves from becoming ransom' my ass!_

Kevin flicked his wrist, purposely hitting the bony parts of Sanada's body. Grunting, Sanada hit the floor and ninja-rolled until he hit the wall, Kevin's attacks raining down relentlessly on his legs. A clatter was heard. Grunting, he raised himself up, only to see that bamboo poles had fallen from their vase onto the floor. There was something he could use as a weapon. Grabbing one of the bamboo poles, he assumed a defensive posture. Taken aback, Kevin stopped his attack for a few moments before regaining his smirk.

"Hooh, so you can actually defend yourself. This will make it most interesting for me!"

Ryoma, who was observing the fight from the corner of his eyes, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.

_The swish of the sword was heard as it cut through the bamboo dummy. The sword danced in the air, cleaving a silver pathway through all those who stood in its way. In this case, it was those bamboo dummies. Soft pants were heard in the tatami room as the owner of the sword settled down for a rest. Small claps could be heard in the room. The sitting person looked startled, but a soft smile crept upon his face when he saw who it was. Inviting the person to sit next to him, they shared a silent moment together in peace._

Clutching at his head, he doubled over and groaned. Moments crept by until the pain receded. Cursing at himself for wasting time, he headed over to Tezuka.

Restarting his attack, Kevin grinned recklessly. His attacks increased in speed and strength, showing how much he was holding back before. Sanada became more and more hard-pressed to block them, only being able to protect his vital points in the very end. Kevin advanced until Sanada's back pressed to the wall. Then he sat on the railing and continued to lash at Sanada with the bone whip until red welt marks could be clearly seen on Sanada's face.

Kevin complained, "This is getting boring, so I'll end it now."

And with that, he flicked his wrist and wrapped the bone whip around the bamboo pole. Sanada smirked, that was what he wanted. With a strength that was surprising for someone that was being beat down, he heaved the makeshift sword, pulling Kevin along with it. Kevin blinked, surprised. As he got closer though, a face-splitting evil leer was apparent on his face. Flipping in the air, he landed a kick square in Sanada's face. Recoiling, Sanada dropped his sword, clutching his head. Kevin snapped the makeshift sword in half, nonchalantly showing his general amusement at the outcome. He looked towards the fallen man, wrapping his bone whip around him.

" Hee hee, I would really like to thank you for the wonderful amusement you gave me tonight, but I really need to end it. But as compromise for the amusement, here you go."

As he spoke, the whip extended to reveal sharp points in the segments, piercing his skin. Kevin walked away from the howling man.

"Done here."

Ryoma was looking callously bored, as he ran closer and closer to the spot where Tezuka was standing. Tezuka tensed, shifting into a defensive position while his brain started calculating the best way to escape the predicament. Every escape possibility came down to less than one percent. That still wasn't very reassuring. But his conscience caught him. After hurting Ryoma so much, it would be a very bad idea to extend onto the damage that they had caused him before. While he was grappling with his conscience, Ryoma attacked, ferociously hacking at whatever he could reach. Tezuka tried to defend himself, but to no avail. Soon, he collapsed from exhaustion. Ryoma indifferently wiped his bloodied claws on his downed opponent's shirt.

"Done here."

Again, another clashing pain nearly split his head in half.

_The clack of the chess pieces against the board reverberated throughout the room. A look of fierce concentration settled upon the shorter one, while his opponent always retained an air of stoicness. Their fierce battle was held on a checkered board; the air crackling with tension between them. If one knew the stoic brunette well, one could see the corners of lips lifting into what could be described as a smug smile. His victory was assured. The younger one scowled, his eyes rapidly running over the chessboard to find a move that would save his king from the ultimate demise. He would not accept defeat that easily. Suddenly, he found it. Moving his knight to a different position, he smirked. He was saved. The other frowned. Seems like this little battle would go on longer than expected._

Kara looked upon the finished fights with approval. That was faster than expected calculations. Behind her, a fist flashed and crashed into the wall facing it. Atobe blinked in surprise. Kara had tilted her head to one side, avoiding the blow. She glanced backwards, a sadistic smile on her face.

"Maa, maa, you woke the sleeping dragon in KIRIN, Atobe Keigo. Better watch out now."

Kara turned her head up to stare at the other members of STYX.

"Don't interfere."

"Don't worry 'bout it; we weren't going to."

Ryoma clutched his head. What were with these headaches? Why now of all times?

_The pounding of fists and kicks were heard against the practice dummy. After some time, the fighter settled down and reached for an imaginary towel. Tch. He had forgotten that he didn't bring one. Suddenly, a towel along with a bottle of water appeared in his line of vision. He blinked. Accepting the gift, he downed half the water bottle and wiped his sweat from his brow. Emerald hair filled his vision. Golden eyes blinked at him. He smiled and accepted a training bout._

"Heh, you let your guard down."

With one swift motion, Kara turned on the spot and stopped Atobe's other fist with her hand. Bloodlust could be seen in her eyes. Finally using all three guns, she twirled them in the air.

"Red."

She spun Garnet around one hand and fired. Everytime, she would announce a color corresponding the gun's names and shoot with that specific gun. Though Kara never aimed at the vital points, she kept grazing other painful places, never really hitting him. The entire time, she had the sadistic grin unfurled on her face. Yukimura watched upon the entire scene from above, a little smile of amusement constant on his face.

"Saa, who would've knew that KIRIN was that kind of person?"

"Normally, she tends to disguise it, but she can't help but let it out sometimes. But those are in small amounts. This time, she really isn't keeping a rein on it."

Kurai observed from a distance. Yukimura smiled.

"Glad to know that she's finding enjoyment from it PHOENIX."

"Heh, we're only in most jobs because we deign that it would give us more amusement than others. Thanks to you, it's living up to its reputation. It's not often that we find a job that would give us this much fun."

"You're very welcome."

In a little bit, all the four victims were tied up by Kevin's bone whip. He flexed his wrist, tightening the bonds slightly, as if he were reminding the four how powerless they were to stop this. It was also to show what would happen if they tried to escape.

"Meh. Done already? That was quick."

Yukimura glanced down in contempt onto the others.

"I thought they would provide more entertainment than that. I guess not. Even all the other targets were more interesting than that."

"Yukimura! Release us!"

"You are in no position to talk, Sanada. You were the one who abandoned me. You have probably never felt how it felt to be abandoned. This time around though, I will be the one to show you true abandonment. You will not die alone; however, you will not die with your lovers together as well. You will watch as they die before you, one by one. Then at the end, you will join them."

To STYX, he issued the final order. "Kill them."

Who got the honor of dying first? Kurai chanted a childish rhyme to select, a huge grin never leaving her face.

"Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo. Catch a tiger by its toe~"

Lo and behold, the finger pointed to Tezuka. Kurai's sword glinted in the light, the deadly blade hissing through the air in a deadly arc towards his throat. At the exact moment, the pain in Ryoma's head became too much to bear. With a cry, he collapsed on the ground, clutching his head as it decided to try and cleave him into two. Within a flash, Kurai, Kara, and Kevin were by his side. Kurai had already sheathed her sword. Yukimura started.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Kara looked up from her position, eyes cold.

"STYX's first priorities are to look after their members, even if it does clash with the client. Our second priority is that to our job. And our third priority is the client. Please wait."

Yukimura half rose from his chair, but decided against it. He had waited for this all this time; it couldn't hurt to wait a bit more.

"Ryoma! Ryoma!"

The voices sounded so far away, as if he was hearing them from a daze. The pain was so gut-wrenching. What was wrong with him? This was the first time on a job that this much pain came. Before, they came as migraines in random intervals of time. He was slowly going unconscious, he was sure at that. Hearing voices was probably not a good thing right? Then, a flash of white and blue entered his mind.

_Seigaku…?_

Then all too suddenly, painful memories rushed into his already abused mind. Colorful flashes of still-frames with blurred edges ran through his mind. With a vivid clarity, he was reminded of every single thing that he did in the 21 years that he was alive. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he remembered the ones he had killed.

_Did I really do all this…?_

Kara saw his tears and it suddenly all clicked. Ryoma had regained his memories. Sighing, she softly relayed all the information she got to Kurai.

_It looks like we won't be able to continue this job anymore… With Ryoma in this condition and with his memories back, he won't want to anymore…_

How was she going to relay this to the client? Lifting off the ground, she sighed again. With a bow, she began.

"We are sorry to say, but we cannot finish this job."

"What?"

"It seems that one of us is incapable of continuing tonight. Farewell Yukimura Seichi."

"I thought you were professionals! Professionals don't leave their jobs unfinished at the very end!"

"Don't insult us."

Kara's voice suddenly took a 180 degree turn from before. Her eyes were like cold chips of ice. Sudden chills came; the temperature literally went down a few degrees.

"…fine. After coming this far, I'll do it myself."

With that, he raised his hand to summon a butler in the room, but paused when sirens could be heard in the distance. And they were getting closer. Yukimura whipped his head around. Atobe was looking very smug indeed.

"You! What did you do! I thought KIRIN shot down your phone!"

"Naïve, Yukimura, naïve. If I don't answer my phone after a certain amount of time, the police are automatically called to the point where the last phone call was made."

True to his word, the sirens were almost to the house. Yukimura slowly crumpled to his knees on the ground.

"Why?"

It was sad so softly, that Kevin, who had rushed over to him once he had fell onto the ground, had to lean closer to hear him.

"All I wanted was revenge. Why is it that all my plans are thwarted at the end?"

Kevin's eyes softened at that. He too, had once felt this way. Kurai, Kara, and even Ryoma had taught him better. Especially Kara. She was like the mother he never had.

"I don't think you mean revenge."

Yukimura looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I just think you were lonely. Lonely because everyone you loved left you behind."

Though Yukimura was still on the ground, he was pondering about this deeply. Sure, being told about his own emotions peeved him a bit, but he never really considered it from that point.

"…you're right. I just wanted someone to love me."

He whispered the last sentence. Kevin dropped to his knees and hugged him. Just at that moment, the police came bursting in, with Shisido and Choutarou at its head.

"Freeze! The New York Police and FBI!"

With a flash, Kurai and Kara moved. With one mighty heave, Kurai pulled the tied-up four towards her and held her swords to their necks. With them, she held a small dagger behind Ryoma's back. Kara leaped with a mighty bound over to where Yukimura and Kevin were, and cocked two of her guns at the back of their heads. They also replaced their masks.

"Don't move."

That sentence was directed at the police who were surrounding them. Shishido froze.

"Dammit!"

He cursed under his breath. His first duty was to secure the civilian hostages and make sure they were all uninjured. Choutarou murmured into his ear.

"They have Atobe, Fuji, Tezuka, Sanada, Yukimura, Ryoma, and Kevin as well."

Dammit! Friends they knew were in danger!

_Looks like STYX will live on immortal again…_

Shishido gnashed his teeth. Meanwhile, while the police were temporarily distracted, Kurai and Kara took this opportunity to whisper to their "captives."

"Kevin, you are now free from STYX."

Kevin's eyes opened in shock. He opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Kara.

"Shhhh… please Kevin, find your happiness. Yukimura, take care of him or you will have me to answer to."

On the other hand, Kurai whispered to her captives.

"You better look after Ryoma or I will personally hunt you down after this."

Their eyes opened in amazement. Fuji asked.

"Does that mean you will leave Ryoma with us?"

"Yes. Ryoma, as from now, you are free from STYX. Find your happiness."

With that said, KIRIN and PHOENIX addressed the police.

"Hear us, we are STYX. You will let us go free, less you want these civilians to come to harm. And please, do not underestimate us. We are accomplished professionals, not some new rookie who can't even handle their weapons. Every other scheme you come up with shall fail. You have our word that the hostages will be released."

After a few moments of frantic whispering between the superiors, they had no choice but to let STYX through. KIRIN and PHOENIX crept slowly towards the balcony. Suddenly, they pushed the hostages away and leaped onto the railings of the balcony and broke through the upper windows. The police were too stunned as they moved within a fraction of a second. They were also occupied with making sure the hostages were safe. STYX rose from the scattered glass, like ethereal wraiths. Shishido didn't hear them afterwards as he was busy tending to his friends. Later reports said that they had announced a speech to the wave of reporters outside and escaped through a limo that had accomplices inside. The limo was never found.

Paramedics surrounded Ryoma as they pushed him towards the ambulance. Faces swam out of his view as he lay there on the transport cot. He thought towards the last words that Kurai would probably ever utter to him for a long time to pass.

_Find my own happiness eh?_

His hand was clutched by Fuji and Atobe who were getting into the ambulance with him. They refused to leave his side, even to treat their injuries. His head turned to the other side. Tezuka's and Sanada's faces swam into view, uncharacteristic looks of worry on their faces. His fingers flitted towards their faces, touching them. They caught his hand and held it there. Even if it might be hard, he was willing to make up with them. It would be a way to atone for his sins; nonetheless he would never forget what he did to his friends. This must've been Kurai's and Kara's last gift to him. He never really understood when they talked about different kinds of love; he had always dismissed it as something trivial. His lips curled into a smile.

"Thank you, nee-san."

* * *

The End~

I hope you enjoyed that. It was exhausting to write in the middle of no inspiration. [sobs] There will be an epilogue to this! I hope it turns out better than this, as I think this was really bad writing. -.- Please tell me how this turned out; I'm too exhausted to think now.


End file.
